Press Release: New Study Looks at the “Big Curve” of University Tuition Fees in the EU and US

CSHE > News > Press Release: New Study Looks at the “Big Curve” of University Tuition Fees in the EU and US

November 18, 2008 - A new study by CSHE researchers John Douglass and Ruth Keeling analyzes the growing importance of fees and tuition as a source of income for both American and European universities, and explores this trend's potentially significant influence on the global market for students and the behavior of institutions. Douglass and Keeling survey pricing trends among a sample group of 24 public and private research universities in the US, all with a wide array of graduate and professional programs, and a small sample group of EU universities. This work represents an important contribution since previous research has not studied the fee rates of comparative research universities. Furthermore, research on tuition pricing has focused largely on bachelor’s degree programs, and not on the rapid changes in tuition and fees for professional degrees which, they argue, are the forerunners of a larger “Big Curve” in pricing.

The authors identify a pattern of convergence not only between US public and private institutions, but also find indications that these trends occur among EU universities. From these findings, they theorize that pricing among major research universities is increasingly influenced by levels of market tolerance, and a convergence in pricing driven in part by the perception that price confers quality and a corresponding level of prestige to consumers.

The study acknowledges that the recent implosion in credit markets may seriously shake this emerging pricing model, in large part since it is increasingly dependent on students taking out sizable loans. However, the results indicate that the long-term trends in pricing, including some level of convergence, will continue as institutions that are globally competitive look over their shoulder at what their perceived peer (or near peer) institutions are charging for specific degrees and programs. These trends will continue to influence the entire higher education market. This research represents a significant intervention in the study of global higher education markets and the financial strategies mobilized by higher education institutions.

Info on Author(s)
John Aubrey Douglass is Senior Research Fellow – Public Policy and Higher Education at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley, and the author most recently of The Conditions for Admissions: Access, Equity and the Social Contract of Public Universities (Stanford University Press, 2007).

Ruth Keeling is permanently based at the Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge, where she is completing her PhD studies. Her doctoral research explores the emergence of European-level policy for higher education, and the European Union's increasingly active involvement in higher education and research issues. She was previously a visiting scholar at the CSHE.

CONTACT:
John Aubrey Douglass, douglass@berkeley.edu

Ruth Keeling, ruth@educationpolicy.eu

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