Richard Vedder, AEI PressJune 200
Economist Richard Vedder wrote, and the American Enterprise Institute Press has just published, this fine book-length analysis of college costs, the reasons they have risen so much, and what can be done about it. In a nutshell, he finds U.S. colleges and universities deeply inefficient and unproductive places that pass along most of these weaknesses to their clients (and taxpayers) via rising tuitions and appropriations. He suggests a number of possible remedies, every one of which will outrage the mandarins of American higher education but almost all of which deserve respectful attention from state and federal policy makers. He examines both tuition-related issues and the (mixed and not entirely persuasive) case for public subsidies. "A good case can be made," Vedder writes, "that governments should largely get out of the higher education business, ending state subsidies and tax advantages for private donations. Moreover, the evidence is strong that massive governmental infusions of funds, along with tax-sheltered private contributions, have contributed to the cost explosion in higher education." Though higher ed is not Gadfly's usual beat, this is an important book that should have been written a decade ago and that Congress ought take very seriously when, next year, it starts afresh to renew the Higher Education Act. It weighs in at 260 pages, the list price is $25, the ISBN is 0844741973, and you can obtain additional information by clicking here.
