If there’s anything fans and foes of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness initiative can agree on, it’s that it doesn’t do anything to address the real issue: the ever-rising cost of college and attendant accumulation of debt.
They’re right, of course. What most people seem not to have noticed, however, is that the situation is actually improving. According to data released by the College Board in February, net tuition for in-state students at four-year public universities peaked in 2013 — and has been gradually declining since.
It’s true that headline tuition (the “sticker price”) at these schools remains higher than it was a decade ago. But this reflects price-discrimination practices, not out-of-control growth in underlying costs.
