A college education has been the key to higher real wages and living standards. But as college enrollment has increased, so has the difficulty in paying for higher education. Steep tuition increases outpaced improvement in incomes for many families.

Further assistance to help pay out-of-pocket costs of college has frequently been proposed even though costs of higher education are already heavily subsidized. State and local subsidies keep tuition costs low at public universities, federal Pell grants are available for youth from poor families, subsidized student loans are widely available, assistantships or other work opportunities are often arranged, and grants from private sources help cover college costs. It is often taken for granted in policy discussions of higher education that more funds are needed and that the main issues are whether additional support should be in the form of grants or loans and whether financial assistance should be conditioned on family incomes.

This volume discusses issues beyond those that are usually debated. Aiming for a more systematic appraisal of education policy, the analyses point to a need to look at education performance at all levels. The authors consider the effects of additional funding on college enrollment and performance, particularly for low-income youth; they analyze factors that influence how different school systems perform; and they examine the case for reforms at elementary and secondary schooling levels as an alternative to more federal financial support at the college level.

Contributors include Stephen V. Cameron, assistant professor of economics and public affairs at Columbia University; Eric A. Hanushek, professor of economics and public policy and director of the W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy, University of Rochester; James J. Heckman, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago; Caroline Minter Hoxby, associate professor of economics at Harvard University; and Thomas J. Kane, assistant professor of public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Editor Marvin H. Kosters is a resident scholar and the director of economic policy studies at AEI.