Tuition price increased 7.3% since 2021
Skidmore college increased its tuition from $58,128 (21) to $62,398 (22-23) which according to collegecalc.org makes Skidmore college 91% more expensive than the national average private non-profit four year college tuition.
The cost is 139% more expensive than the average New York tuition of $23,899 for 4 year colleges. Tuition ranks 176th in New York amongst 4 year colleges for affordability and is the 10th most expensive 4 year college in the state.
Total cost to attend including room, meals, books etc. is now a whopping $81,892
The move comes perhaps partially in response to President Bidens move to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for individual borrowers with incomes under $125k and married couples $250k
Economic experts have suggested that cancelling student loan debt would make it easier for colleges to raise prices.
“Students will likely feel liberated to borrow more money on the assumption of future loan forgiveness, and universities will take advantage of the additional borrowing by raising tuition," said Brian Riedl, a senior fellow in budget, tax and economic policy at the Manhattan Institute.
“This is pretty similar to the fact that historically 60% of all student aid increases have been captured with tuition hikes, and this will be treated like an increase in student aid moving forward, which suggests that 60% will be countered by tuition hikes.”
Riedl was referring to the so called “Bennett Hypothesis” that was tested in 2015 by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which determined that increases in subsidized loans resulted in tuition hikes of up to 60 cents on the dollar and unsubsidized loans led to tuition hikes of up to 15 cents on the dollar.
“Students have already been overborrowing for decades, and if they believe that any borrowing will be at least partially forgiven in the future, all restraints are off,” said Riedl
And while liberal arts colleges get rich off of a student loan bailout, some experts say that the forgiveness plan may cost taxpayers an average of $2000.
“There’s a transfer of wealth from the society at large to people who borrowed to go to college right now,” said Andrew Lautz, director of federal policy at the National Taxpayers Union.
Lautz published an estimate on Tuesday that found Bidens plan could cost the average taxpayer more than $2000, based on the $10,000 forgiveness per student loan borrower that had been touted.
"The figure is based on the assumption that policymakers would need to make up for the total cost of forgiveness through tax increases, spending cuts, borrowing or a combination of those strategies.”
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