Why Does College Cost So Much?
Two economists try to explain rising college costs, but miss the mark.
Author Profile
Robert Martin
Robert E. Martin retired in 2008 as professor emeritus at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, after serving as the Boles Professor of Economics since 1996. He is the author of a book on higher education economics, Cost Control, College Access, and Competition in Higher Education (Edward Elgar, 2005), as well as the author of 36 articles and two book chapters.Martin received his Ph.D. in economics from Southern Methodist University in 1979 and began his academic career as an assistant professor of economics at Louisiana State University (LSU), where he earned tenure and promotion to full professor. He left LSU to become department chairman at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in 1992. While at UTA, he served as interim dean of the College of Business. He left UTA to become the Boles Professor of Economics at Centre College. Before receiving his Ph.D., Martin worked for seven years in publicly held corporations and as a consultant; he was responsible for mergers/acquisitions, operational budgeting, capital budgeting, and energy studies.
Articles by Robert Martin
The Dark Side of Selective Admissions
Parents, take note: Students aren’t necessarily better off with a degree from an elite college.
The Revenue-to-Cost Spiral in Higher Education
The cost of higher education has been rising rapidly. This paper by Robert E. Martin explains why. The cause is the incentives inherent in the nature of higher education. Higher education is a nonprofit sector; profit and even clear ownership are missing. Martin compares higher education with the broader profit-seeking economy, where costs must be controlled if firms are to survive. He finds that higher education, due to its nonprofit nature and its focus on creating reputation, spends just about all the money it gets, avoiding cost control.