Differential Pricing of Undergraduate Education

The Economics of Tuition Pricing in Higher Education

“…Yanikoski and Wilson (1984) conclude that the experience with detailed cost-based differential tuition pricing is quite limited. The range of existing policies includes setting tuitions: (1) by college of enrollment and student level (Universities of Minnesota and Bridgeport);…”

Student response to tuition increase by academic majors: empirical grounds for a cost-related tuition policy

“…1 Policymakers and college administrators might consider diverse ways of linking college expenditures to tuition. Yanikoski and Wilson (1984) proposed four considerations in designing cost-related tuition: pricing proportionate to the costs of courses, programs, or levels; higher prices for specialized upper divisions than for lower-divisions; higher prices for outstanding, high-quality programs; and pricing based on the rates of return of academic majors. 1 Johnson (1979), for instance, reported an interesting finding from his study of higher education institutions in the state of Washington, where the cost-related tuition concept was adopted in 1977.…”

A Study of the Effects and Policy Implications of Flat Rate Tuition

“…The study of different types of tuition policies by Yanikoski and Wilson (1984) focused on examining the rationale for adjusting tuition to achieve maximum tuition revenue in minimally regressive ways. The authors explained that the rationale for most institutions to charge higher tuition for graduate work compared to undergraduate programs was largely unquestioned for centuries: graduate students stood to earn more upon completing their degrees, their class sizes were generally smaller and their programs often required specialized, more expensive faculty, facilities, and more expensive equipment.…”