Article 4/6 - Why is college so expensive?

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303870704579298302637802002?KEYWORDS=college&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303870704579298302637802002.html%3FKEYWORDS%3Dcollege

This article from the Wall Street Journal talks about the increasing expense of college. It gives a shocking statistic that from 1978-2011 the expense of college has increased at a rate practically double that of the average family income (7.45% vs 3.8%). The author accredits this problem to the increased involvement of the government in the college process. By providing grants and other forms of aid, the government forces colleges to raise their own prices in order to counter. The article says that because of such high costs, it forces students to take majors that are overall less expensive, and or go to a public or community college vs a private institution. Another possible option is the increased use of online education. Overall, I found this article very interesting being that it provided a great deal of statistical evidence. It is unbelievable the amount of debt the average college graduate is in. The author of this article is uses a strategy of statement then specific evidence very well in order to prove his point. The intended audience are students are parents looking at colleges and those interested in economic studies. The purpose of the article is to draw a source of the high expense of today's colleges.