Much has been made of the rising costs of higher education. I know; I’m one of the ones making a fuss. But John Lombardi over at Higher Ed News had a post that put some things into perspective. In “Pricing the Product,” he points out that colleges charge only one price to cover a variety of degree programs with different costs. For instance, a biology degree program generally does not equal an English degree in cost. Biology programs require lab equipment, specialized classrooms, and other such things. An English program can easily be pitched in a basement closet so long as there’s light to read and write by (all of you humanities people know what I’m talking about). There’s more to this of course. There are advising opportunities for students, technology upgrades on campus schools, and a whole host of other resources that are available to students all at the same ticket price.

So what happens if the schools get so sick of the groaning about rising tuition costs that they throw out the buffet style? They say, “Fine, you don’t like the price it takes for all you can eat. Now you can pay a la carte.” Suddenly a science program costs more than an English program. Honors programs cost more than regular programs. If you want a side of writing center mentoring, well, that’ll cost you extra too. But if you are a humanities student and not looking for anything beyond the basic meat and potatoes degree program, you may pay significantly less.

Lombardi points out that specialized programs like MBAs already have their own pricing. It may just be that a lot of schools will switch to an a la carte business model because financially it’s just easier to swallow.