Issue 13, Spring 1997

William A. McEachern, Editor

The Evidence File

• According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, in-state tuition at four-year public colleges and universities rose 234% between the 1980-81 and 1994-95 academic years. During the same period, the median sale price of a new single-family home increased 101%, medical costs rose 182%, and food prices rose 66%. The GAO has also compiled a survey of in-state tuitions for the 1994-95 academic year. The column below ranks states based on their average in-state tuition. Also shown is in-state tuition as a percentage of the median household income in each state.

  Ranking In-State Tuition for 1994-95
  
  

  State Rank	Average In-State Tuition	As % of Median Household Income
  1.   Vermont	$5521	15%
  2.   Pennsylvania	4696	14
  3.   New Hampshire	4537	12
  4.   Massachusetts	4178	10
  5.   Virginia	3695	10
  6.   Delaware	3962	11
  7.   New Jersey	3848	9
  8.   Connecticut	3838	9
  9.   Michigan	3789	10
  10. New York	3697	11
  11. Ohio	3664	11
  12. Rhode Island	3619	11
  13. Maryland	3572	9
  14. Maine	3560	11
  15. Illinois	3388	10
  16. Oregon	3241	10
  17. Minnesota	3108	9
  18. South Carolina	3103	10
  19. Indiana	3040	10
  20. Missouri	3007	9
  21. California	2918	8
  22. Washington	2726	8
  23. Iowa	2565	7
  24 .Wisconsin	2555	7
  25. South Dakota	2549	8
  26. Alaska	2502	5
  27. Colorado	2458	6
  28. Montana	2346	8
  29. Mississippi	2443	9
  30. Nebraska	2294	7
  31. Alabama	2234	8
  32. North Dakota	2211	7
  33. Kentucky	2160	8
  34. Louisiana	2139	8
  35. Kansas	2110	7
  36. Georgia	2076	6
  37. Arkansas	2062	8
  38. Utah	2007	5
  39. Wyoming	2005	6
  40. Tennessee	2001	6
  41. West Virginia	1992	8
  42. Arizona	1943	6
  43. New Mexico	1938	7
  44. Texas	1832	5
  45. Nevada	1830	5
  46. Florida	1790	6
  47. Oklahoma	1741	6
  48. Idaho	1714	5
  49. North Carolina	1622	5
  50. Hawaii	1524	3
  U.S. Average	2865	8

  
  Source: Compiled by U.S. General Accounting
  Office. Median household income is for 1994.

• The U.S. Department of Education surveyed a half million students around the world to see how U.S. students were doing in math and science. U.S. students were above average in science, but below average in math. American math teachers often emphasize basic mathematical formulas rather than help students understand the concepts behind the formulas. They devote only 20% of the lesson, on average, to developing math concepts; math teachers in Germany spend 75% , and in Japan spend 80% of the time on math concepts. Since U.S. teachers emphasize memorizing formulas, is it any wonder that U.S. math teachers identify "uninterested students" as a problem much more so than do teachers in either Germany or Japan?

• Sometimes I think it would be easier teaching about scarce resources to students in a developing country, where scarcity is more ubiquitous, than in one of the richest countries on earth. But one area where scarcity comes to the fore even in the United States is living space, especially for students in dorms. Because of the echo from the baby boom, a population explosion has begun on some campuses, with the result that more students are being stuffed into dorm rooms.

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