2-26-2010 Up up and away. Tuition goes out of sight.

Fact Checker here.
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Welcome home. It's good to see the Editorial Board addressing an issue central to Duke.

There is a new school of thought among some in Allen Building and in higher education: it really doesn't matter what the great universities cost, because only the rich pay full freight and need blind admissions covers the rest.

The editorial properly points out that there are many people who are crimped by the need blind aid formulas. And others who are able to afford Duke only by making loans an important part of their financial package.

President Brodhead approaches the "don't worry about the cost of tuition school," so far as I can determine from his limited comments. He has said that he does not think people want a generic version of Duke, costing less.

I shake my head: we cannot have increases in tuition and fees far far in excess of inflation compounded year after year.

And we need transparency and accountability from the admissions office of just how need-blind Duke indeed is. Fact Checker has seen a secret study showing that fully 70 percent of white students are from families earning $100,000 or more a year. I am a long way from declaring that just happens year after year, that we do not cherry pick.
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