Why is Higher Education so Expensive?

Every week, the Wonder Newsroom asks our community to pose questions on topics confronting our world today.

Other than healthcare, nothing in the US has risen as much as the Cost of Higher Education, which has increased some 200% just in the past 20 years alone (145% above the rate of inflation).

Actually, wait... there is ONE thing that has risen far more: Student Debt.

In the same period, student debt increased 600%, reaching an all-time-high of $1.4 trillion–higher than both credit card debt & car financing debt.

From admissions scandals & college closures, to free speech debates, campus sexual assaults, & pandemic mitigation, academic inflation is just one of the myriad "strains of thought" piling up on university desks nationwide.

This week, Wonder Newsroom set out to answer our network’s toughest questions about the capstones, groans, & student loans impeding the Higher Education experience in America today.

HIGHER EDUCATION, BY THE NUMBERS:

$142K is the average TOTAL cost over 4 years to attend college in the US (2022).
19.7M students were enrolled at US colleges in 2020 (69% of recent HS graduates).
55% of students from public four-year institutions in the US have student loans (57% for private).
43M borrowers across the US are expected to benefit from Biden's student loan debt relief plan.