Productivity in Higher Education

Higher education can no longer run away from the "p" word: productivity. The 2008 Measuring Up national report card on higher education shows that from 1982 to 2007, while the consumer price index increased 106 percent, tuition and fees at US colleges and universities grew 439 percent. If during this same time we had graduated more students per dollar or if the students we graduated in 2007 had gained far more knowledge than those who graduated in 1982, the overall increase in costs might be more tolerable. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that we gained ground on either measure.