The Two-Income Trap - Elizabeth Warren [108]
86 Immerwahr and Foleno, Great Expectations, Table 8.
87 American Council on Education, The Cost of College: Perceptions, Reality, and Value. ACE Issue Brief (Washington, DC: ACE, January 1997): 3-4. The Report cites a number of causes for rising costs, including economic market conditions, state budget cuts, financial aid, student expectations, scientific needs, regulatory compliance, and an increase in the federal minimum wage.
88 American Council on Education and National Affairs, “Hearing Focuses on Rising College Tuition,” Higher Education and National Affairs, July 29, 1996, p. 2.
89 Statement of the American Association of University Professors to the National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education, October 1997, p. 3.
90 American Council on Education, The Cost of College, p. 3.
91 Charles T. Clotfelter, Buying the Best: Cost Escalation in Elite Higher Education (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996), pp. 188-198.
92 James L. Schulman and William G. Bowen, The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001), pp. 244-245.
93 Daniel L. Fulks, Revenues and Expenses of Division I and II Intercollegiate Athletics Programs: Financial Trends and Relationships—1999 (Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2000). Between 1993 and 1999, the average deficit, excluding subsidies from the university’s general funds, increased by 57 percent for Division I-AA colleges, by 127 percent for I-AAA colleges, and by 50 percent for Division II colleges.
94 Michael Arnone, “The Wannabes,” Chronicle of Higher Education, January 3, 2003.
95 American Council on Education, “Senate Hearing Focuses on College Costs,” Higher Education and National Affairs, February 14, 2000.
96 Immerwahr and Foleno, Great Expectations, p. 1.
97 U.S. Department of Education, “Accountability for Results Works: College Loan Default Rates Continue to Decline,” press release, September 19, 2001. Available at http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/09-2001/09192001a.html [1/5/2003]. The Department of Education heralded the success of its programs to reduce the default rate on student loans, but the reduction does not mean that families can afford the loans. Student loans are almost never dischargeable in bankruptcy, so many have learned that they must pay their student loans even if it means losing the house, the car, and the furniture.
98 Stephen Burd, “How Much Is Too Much?” Chronicle of Higher Education, January 24, 2003.
99 Calculated from Glenn B. Canner, Thomas A. Durking, and Charles A. Lucket, “Recent Developments in Home Equity Lending,” Federal Reserve Bulletin , April 1998.
100 Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Losing Ground: A National Status Report on the Affordability of American Higher Education (San Jose, CA: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 2002), p. 13; see also Snyder and Hoffman, Digest of Education Statistics, 2001, Table 331, Current Fund Revenue of Degree-Granting Institutions, by Source of Funds, 1919-20 to 1995-96. Current fund revenue at public universities from state, local, and federal tax appropriations increased 34 percent between 1980 and 1997, inflation adjusted.
101 BLS, Consumer Expenditure Survey: Interview Survey, 1972-1973, Table 5; Consumer Expenditures in 2000, Table 4.
102 Graaf, Waan, and Naylor, Affluenza, pp. 25-26.
103 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average four-person family had 1.7 vehicles a generation ago; today they have 2.5, an increase of nearly one (0.8) car per family. This is a big jump, but it isn’t clear that over-consumption is to blame. The trick is in the averages. Many four-person families have more than two adults at home, such as a son in college, an elderly grandparent, or even a brother-in-law who doesn’t have his own place. The number of adults in the average family of four is 2.4 today (up just slightly from 2.3 a generation ago). This means