College costs/prices

Cam Holmes graduated from Tulsa Community College on Friday – and she says that, but for a program created three years ago, she never would have done so.

WASHINGTON -- Higher education researchers collectively lamented the barriers to real innovation at colleges and universities here Thursday, while acknowledging that precious few agreed-upon strategies for transformational change have gained any real foothold within the “industry.”

Private, nonprofit colleges will hike tuition and fees by an average of 4.5 percent in the coming academic year, outpacing inflation while still holding close to last year’s nearly 40-year low increase rate, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

The University of California campuses are known for top doctoral programs, but two new reports on graduate students suggest that the state's financial problems are posing dangers to that reputation.

A new report from the university system shows that graduate students are unhappy with housing affordability, the amount of financial support the university provides, and the support’s type and duration.

Many states see double-digit tuition increases this year, as public universities try to cope with the recession.

Survey affirms merit awards serve some needy students, but that says little about whether access for less wealthy is a real priority.

The third installment of the College Board’s “Education Pays” series concludes that its title still holds true. But that’s not persuading critics of its validity.

College graduates earn increasingly higher wages than high school graduates and are more likely to be employed, and more likely to receive health insurance and pension benefits from their employers; they are also more active citizens and engaged parents, and maintain healthier lifestyles, according to the report.

Researchers look at common ideas to improve degree completion, and find that popular strategies like cutting class size may not be cost-effective.

Government may be forced to regulate if too many institutions charge maximum.

College and university presidents in the United States and elsewhere regularly link the need for a higher education to individual and national needs for economic advancement. What if their underlying assumptions aren't true? Three social scientists from British universities challenge many of those assumptions in The Global Auction: The Broken Promises of Education, Jobs and Incomes, just published by Oxford University Press.