Document Type

Capstone Project

Publication Date

5-16-2024

Publication Title

UNLV Undergraduate Economics Working Paper Series

Publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Publisher Location

Las Vegas (Nev.)

Volume

1

Issue

1

First page number:

1

Last page number:

24

Abstract

As higher education continues to shift to be more progressive, providing access to more students of different backgrounds, it currently is facing an obstacle. The escalating cost of tuition is growing to be a significant concern for access to higher education. The government has prioritized increasing federal financial aid to improve accessibility. However, this intervention may paradoxically worsen the rise of the cost of college, as suggested by William Bennett's famous hypothesis. As the higher education landscape evolves, a nuanced examination of tuition rise drivers is essential. This study utilizes cross-sectional data from the National Center for Education Statistics to evaluate Bennett's hypothesis, focusing on the impact of government financial aid and institutional aid on costs at public and private nonprofit colleges in the US. The study is structured around an institution’s charging variance and determinants of financial aid. The analysis reveals evidence supporting Bennett’s Hypothesis, indicating a correlation between financial aid and tuition costs across various institutions.

Keywords

Bennett’s Hypothesis; Tuition; Financial Aid

Disciplines

Education Economics | Higher Education | Higher Education Administration

File Format

PDF

File Size

509 KB

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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