AUSTIN— Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published the paper, The Case for Replacing Cost of Attendance with Median Cost of College.

“Using the median cost of college would generate several benefits including improving the financial aid application process, enhancing the competitive landscape among colleges, and providing an incentive for colleges to measure and improve quality,” said Andrew Gillen, Ph.D., senior policy analyst with the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Innovation in Education.

Key Points:

  • Eligibility for federal aid for college students should be determined by the median cost of college rather than the cost of attendance.
  • Adopting the median cost of college would improve the financial aid process.
  • The median cost of college would enhance the competitive landscape and hence improve accountability, encourage cost containment, and, in some cases, lower prices.
  • The median cost of college would reduce the inflationary effect of aid on tuition (neutralizing the Bennett hypothesis).
  • The median cost of college would provide an incentive for colleges to measure and improve quality.

To read the paper in full, please visit:

https://www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Gillen-Replacing-Cost-of-Attendance.pdf