Itemized Charges & Student Aid Enhancing the Capacity of States to Understand Affordability for All Students

The rise of higher education costs is well known. It is difficult to engage in higher education policy without encountering alarm over the affordability crisis and its consequences for federal and state budgets, students and their parents, and institutions. The cause for alarm is fully justified given what we know about how affordability is related to enrollment. In this report the author points out some financial issues related to the higher education affordability and draws some recommendations for policymakers to cope with this situation.