The Higher and Higher Cost of Higher Ed

It's that time of year again: Graduating high school students, consumed by senioritis, are making that all-important decision of which college or university they will attend. And their parents, consumed by anxiety, are aghast at the ever-growing cost of higher education.College tuition alone has shot up by more than 500 percent since 1985—more than health care, gasoline, and food prices. Student loan debt now totals more than $1.4 trillion and surpasses all other forms of consumer debt. The College Board reports that tuition and fees for the 2016-2017 school year averaged $9,650 for in-state residents and $24,930 for out-of-state residents attending public four-year institutions, and $33,480 at private four-year colleges—plus nearly $11,000 in room and board. The average 2016 undergraduate left school $37,172 in arrears.These numbers are staggering, and they're behind New York governor Andrew Cuomo's and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders's support for tuition-free public education. On the surface, it's a sympathetic viewpoint. But as any economist will tell you, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Well-intentioned though such proposals may be, we all know what paves the road to hell.