Financing Higher Education at Selective Private Institutions: Implications for College Access and Choice

This essay draws upon the final report of the National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education (1998), Ehrenberg (2000), and King (1999) to explore (a) the cost of higher education at selective private colleges and universities, (b) public concern about the rising costs of higher education, and (c) the shift in financial aid policy from access to affordability. It also discusses implications for selective private institutions, the broader goals of access and choice, and higher education professionals. Disciplines Accessibility | Education | Education Economics | Higher Education | Social and Cultural Anthropology This review is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/369 PERNA / Review Essay 225 The Review of Higher Education Winter 2002, Volume 25, No. 2, pp. 225–235 Copyright © 2002 Association for the Study of Higher Education All Rights Reserved (ISSN 0162-5748) LAURA W. PERNA is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on issues related to college access and choice as well as equity among college and university faculty. Address inquiries to her at EDPL, University of Maryland, 2200 Benjamin Building, College Park, MD 20742; telephone: (301) 405-2220; fax: (301) 854-1632; e-mail: [email protected]. REVIEW ESSAY Financing Higher Education at Selective Private Institutions: Implications for College Access and Choice