Introduces this topical issue on costs in higher education with an overview of the economics of higher education. Considers various types of supplier costs (opportunity versus accounting costs), various ways of determining costs (cost accounting, statistical estimation, and modeling), and factors that influence supplier costs (environmental…

Both financial and nonfinancial costs of education, such as time, effort, risk, and social and psychological perceptions are considered as influences on consumer behavior and as elements that an institution can manage in its efforts to maintain or change its position in the market. (MSE)

Data on parallels and divergences between the occupational structure and the distribution of college degrees across fields of study are examined with the conclusion that higher education is now providing more occupationally defined human resources than are needed and that other purposes must be called on to justify the size of the college going…

Two models of the relationship between higher education and work are examined (market model and manpower planning model) in light of available data on student perceptions of education and careers, how they make career decisions, kinds of market information available to them and higher education personnel and how they use it. (JT)

Issues in the application of enrollment demand analysis to institutions' pricing policy are discussed, including price change impact on enrollment, the role of enrollment demand models on long-range financial and personnel planning, use of tuition and financial aid policy in optimizing policymakers' enrollment objectives, and the redistribution…