August 1, 2008

Prices Paid by Colleges Rise 3.6 Percent, Trailing Consumer Price Index

By GOLDIE BLUMENSTYK

The Higher Education Price Index, a widely used measure of colleges' costs, rose by 3.6 percent for the 2008 fiscal year, which ended on June 30.

But even as they reported the good news of that moderate increase, experts at the Commonfund Institute who maintain the index noted that broader economic trends could portend higher costs for colleges in the months to come.

"The fear now is that inflation is reigniting," said John S. Griswold Jr., executive director of the

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