Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Since 2000 tuition for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS)
has doubled. Although enrolled has also increased over the same period, there are
concerns that this tuition increase has reduced access to post-secondary institutions at a
time when post-secondary education is crucial for success in the labor market. Several
researchers and policy makers have had similar concerns about increased tuition leading
to decreased access throughout the United States. One policy lever often suggested as a
solution is to decrease or freeze tuition levels. Kentucky is also considering such a freeze
for KCTCS, although the effects of such a freeze have not been studied for Kentucky.
This proposal will study the predicted changes to revenue and enrollment if KCTCS
tuition for the 2008-2009 year were to remain at the current level, (2007-2008 year). The
analysis will begin with a review of research on the relationship between tuition and
enrollment and retention, what economists call own price elasticity. We will focus solely
on the literature of own price elasticities at two-year colleges. From this analysis, we will
develop an estimate of the own price elasticity. Our best estimate may be a range rather
than a single number if other researchers have not reached consensus on the size of the
relationship.
An integral element to studying the effects of a tuition freeze is the tuition level in the
absence of a freeze. This number is the counterfactual scenario to which we will
compare the tuition freeze scenario. We will work with officials at the Council on Post-
Secondary Education (CPE) and at KCTCS to determine the level of tuition in the
absence of a tuition freeze.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 2/11/08 → 6/30/08 |
Funding
- KY Council on Postsecondary Education: $19,648.00
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