Staff Editorial: Tuition just keeps on rising

Being on par with our peer institutions isn't always a good thing.

Still, that's part of the logic used by the University in raising the price of a Penn education yet again. Total charges for students will increase by 4.8 percent next year, coming in just a hair short of $38,000. Even tuition itself will rise by nearly 5 percent and surpass the $26,000 mark.

In addition to the usual claims of necessity, Penn officials say that the latest increase in costs is right in line with what our fellow top-tier schools are doing. The rate of increase may exceed the inflation rate, but it's well within higher education standards.

To be fair, as our academic stock continues to rise, it makes perfect economic sense to hike up the price of a Penn education. The demand for admission will continue to exceed the number of spots available, and students have long shown that they are willing to take out the necessary loans.

And the University does rightfully claim that almost every penny students pay is invested right back into their classes, facilities and dorms.

But for a school that has expressed great pride in having a stronger endowment and a better alumni giving rate over the past year than our peers, hiding behind their decisions seems to be faulty logic. If we are performing better financially than our peers, why must we base our decisions on their actions?

We are long past the days of affordable higher education on the Ivy League level. Now, it has reached the point where the federal government is considering taking action -- a congressman is planning to introduce a bill that would create an affordability index to help keep tuition increases in line with inflation rates.

While Penn officials have expressed confidence that this bill will be defeated, they are clearly ignoring the message behind the legislation. There is no pressing reason for the University to level off tuition rates, but squeezing students for extra dollars at this point is going too far.

We hope to see the day when college tuition hits a plateau, or maybe even declines. But based on the events of the last decade, we won't hold our breath.

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