From The Chronicle, more fuel for the debate over the extent to which colleges can control rising tuition costs:
The cost of goods, services, pay, and benefits in higher education rose 2.3 percent for the year ending June 30—a figure that is nearly a percentage point higher than the Consumer Price Index for the same period but less than half the 5-percent rate that colleges experienced in the 2008 fiscal year.
The Commonfund Institute, which calculates the annual Higher Education Price Index figure and released it on Wednesday, said administrative salaries and fringe-benefit costs showed the biggest increases.
Administrative salaries rose by 5.4 percent, up from 5 percent a year earlier; fringe-benefit costs went up by 3.6 percent, down from 5.5 percent in the previous year.
Salaries for faculty members rose by 3.4 percent, down from the previous year’s rate of 4.1 percent.
