Abstract
Debates concerning the price of higher education are gaining magnitude on a national scale. Colleges now compete not only on the quality of instruction they provide, but also on various factors which market the educational experience as an “all-inclusive package” of consumption and investment attributes. The investment attributes, on one side, enable students to become qualified for a job in the future. The consumption attributes, on the other side, allow students to get involved in activities of interest outside the academic curriculum. This study argues that colleges, in spite of increased efforts to complement education with attractive factors of consumption, are still valued primarily for the investment benefits that they provide in the long-term. The study examines a cross-section of U.S. private institutions of higher education and uses hedonic models to analyze the relationship between institutional attributes and tuition. Results suggest that both investment and consumption attributes affect students’ willingness to pay for higher education; however, investment attributes have a larger overall impact.
Advisor
Sell, John
Department
Business Economics
Recommended Citation
Godonoga, Ana, "What do Students Value in an Institution of Higher Education? A Study on Institutional Attributes and Tuition at Private Colleges in the United States: A Hedonic Approach" (2014). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 5873.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/5873
Disciplines
Education Economics
Keywords
institutional attributes, tuition, willingness to pay, hedonic models
Publication Date
2014
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2014 Ana Godonoga