I vehemently disagree with you that the cost of administering financial aid exceeds the increase in money that the colleges are able to rake in overall. College costs have been rising at multiples of the inflation rate for years because and only because government subsidies make it possible for their customers to agree to payments they otherwise couldn’t afford.
I agree with you that government is at the root of it, but higher ed has been making out like bandits from the system and spending lots of money wastefully to lure customers who are not cost conscious because they now have third-party payers, lenders and subsidizers.
And you’re right, the Ivies at least used to coordinate their aid offers, but the Dept of Justice made them stop. Early admission policies are a funky way to keep students from shopping in the marketplace, however.
Well you can disagree, but all the colleges I know the finances on lose money on students until state and federal funding shows up, and with recent cuts in state funding they still lose money on students. Financial aid certainly isn’t the only cost driver, but it’s good to keep in mind that most if not all that increased money they’re “raking in” leaves. Running a college is expensive, tons of government regulation on everything you do, most of your employees are unionized, anytime you want to build or expand something everybody assumes you have deep pockets and your prices sky rocket. It’s an bad way to try to make money. Unless you’re a diploma mill, then a whole bunch of your problems evaporate.