tuition is increasing- so is upper-middle class families' willingness to pay.
Attending a private university is easy if you fall on either end of the wealth spectrum- if you have no money or can afford to use a 100-dollar bill as a napkin. If you fall into a group known as the upper-middle class, paying for college is more challenging. Your family has a solid income on paper, but after all bills and expenses are taken care of, the leftover money is not sufficient to cover the cost of a private education.
The problem with the upper-middle class is that they are status conscious. This means that even if they cannot fully afford to do so, they want to send their children to elite, private universities so that they have a better chance of success in life. As they continue to send their children to prestigious universities, the universities themselves have no incentive to lower tuition or cost of attendance. This is because their board members know that upper-middle class families care about status so much that they will still pay for their children to go there regardless of the cost. The only way tuition would decrease or stop increasing is if large numbers of students from these families chose to attend an honors program at a state university rather than the more elite private university.
The problem with the upper-middle class is that they are status conscious. This means that even if they cannot fully afford to do so, they want to send their children to elite, private universities so that they have a better chance of success in life. As they continue to send their children to prestigious universities, the universities themselves have no incentive to lower tuition or cost of attendance. This is because their board members know that upper-middle class families care about status so much that they will still pay for their children to go there regardless of the cost. The only way tuition would decrease or stop increasing is if large numbers of students from these families chose to attend an honors program at a state university rather than the more elite private university.