"A survey of 1,000 college alumni to be released today by the American Council on Education shows that 65 percent of college graduates believe that the price of higher education is too high," Inside Higher Ed reports. "But most of those surveyed said their own alma maters charged a fair price. The proportion differed among private and public college graduates. While 79 percent of public college graduates thought their own institution charged a fair price, only 53 percent of private college graduates felt the same way. Molly C. Broad, the new president of the council, attributed the gap between alumni perceptions of their own colleges' costs and those of other institutions to two factors. One, she said, there is a difference between thinking about the cost of college in the 'abstract' as opposed to as 'direct beneficiaries.' In other words, graduates may think the tuition they paid was fair because they had the whole experience, while when thinking about other schools, all they see is a sticker price. Also, she pointed out the differing opinions among those who attended private colleges as opposed to public institutions."

You can read the complete May 20, 2008 Inside Higher Ed article on-line.

Additional Media Coverage

• College Graduates Say Their Education Was Worth the Time and Money (The Chronicle of Higher Education) A paid subscription may be required

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