

Does high tuition facilitate networking? - cwan
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2009/09/its_expensive_so_it_must_be_go.cfm

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tokenadult
The blog entry cited in the submitted article:

[http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/us-news-
college...](http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/us-news-college-
rankings-yes-they-matter/)

There is a freely readable version of the article discussed in the blog post
here:

[http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bastedo/papers/BowmanBastedo....](http://www-
personal.umich.edu/~bastedo/papers/BowmanBastedo.ResHE2009.pdf)

"Using admissions data for top-tier institutions from fall 1998 to fall 2005,
we found that moving onto the front page of the U.S. News rankings provides a
substantial boost in the following year’s admissions indicators for all
institutions. In addition, the effect of moving up or down within the top tier
has a strong impact on institutions ranked in the top 25, especially among
national universities. In contrast, the admissions outcomes of liberal arts
colleges--particularly those in the lower half of the top tier--were more
strongly influenced by institutional prices."

So high list price serves as a signal to some families that a second-rank
college may be a better college than some other college with a similar rank,
putting pressure on all colleges in that echelon to raise their list prices.

