The Impact of Tuition Increases on Enrollment at Public Colleges and Universities

Abstract

In this paper we review recent increases in tuition at public institutions and estimate impacts on enrollment. We use data on all U.S. public 4-year colleges and universities from 1991 to 2006 and illustrate that tuition increased dramatically beginning in the early part of this decade. We examine impacts of such increases on total enrollment and credit hours, and estimate differences by type of institution. We estimate that the average tuition and fee elasticity of total headcount is -0.0958. At the mean, a $100 increase in tuition and fees would lead to a decline in enrollment of about 0.25 percent, with larger effects at Research I universities. We find limited evidence that especially large tuition increases elicit disproportionate enrollment responses.

In my own time: tuition fees, class time and student effort in non-formal (or continuing) education

“…The increase in tuition fees at higher education institutions in many countries has attracted much debate (Dearden, Elma, and Gill 2011;Hemelt and Marcotte 2011). Understandably, such increases often lead to pressure from students for institutions to enhance their access to learning opportunities, for example, by increasing class time.…”

College Costs, Freshman Enrollment, and Student Quality: Evidence from an Urban State University

“…Based on the coefficient value of −0.3532, for every $100 increase in the university's tuition and fees, its freshman enrollment, on average, is expected to drop by 35, ceteris paribus. In comparison, [14], using national data from 1991 to 2006, showed a more modest relationship between education cost and enrollment -a drop of 25 students per $100 increase in tuition and fees. The documented difference in price elasticity may mean that the university faces a more elastic demand for education than the nation as a whole and/or that the price elasticity for higher education has increased in the recent past.…”

“…In contrast, [13], studying exclusively U.S. private colleges and universities, concluded that even a small change in tuition would trigger a huge response in enrollment. Reference [14], probing the effect of tuition and fees on enrollment for all public four-year colleges and universities in a more recent era, 1991 to 2007, discovered that abnormally large tuition hikes could cause disproportionate drop in enrollment.…”

“…This coefficient reflects the percentage change in freshman enrollment given one percentage change in tuition and fees. Following [14], [22], enrollment demand is also estimated by rerunning (1) after taking the log form of both freshman enrollment and tuition and fees.…”

Multifaceted Aid for Low-Income Students and College Outcomes: Evidence from North Carolina

“…Previous research has explored the effects of need-based aid on the postsecondary attendance choices of students (e.g., Dynarski, 2003;Deming & Dynarski, 2010), the influence of tuition costs on college enrollment (e.g., Hemelt & Marcotte, 2011;Heller, 1996;Kane, 1995), and the effects of merit-based scholarships on postsecondary enrollment and choice (e.g., Bruce & Carruthers, 2014;Scott-Clayton, 2011). Much less attention has been paid to the influence of such factors (and other supports) on outcomes beyond college enrollment such as short-run persistence, academic performance, and college completion.…”