Today we’re talking about the economics of higher education in the United States.

Though the average cost of going to college nearly tripled from 1980 to 2021, the net cost of attending both public and private institutions has started to come down. Martin Kurzweil, vice president of educational transformation at the nonprofit Ithaka S+R, traces that back to a decline in enrollment.

“Demographers will tell us that the generations of young people coming through after the baby boom, the cohort sizes, have decreased over time, and higher education is looking at what’s come to be known as a demographic cliff,” Kurzweil said.

On the show today: Kurzweil explains how college became unaffordable for many Americans, why costs have started to come down, and how a shrinking population of typical college-age students will transform higher education in the U.S.

Then, we’ll get into the repercussions of the Great Recession on the retirement wealth of younger baby boomers. And, are credit rating firms underestimating the climate crisis?

Later, listeners share how they deal with news fatigue. Plus, one listener explains what she got wrong about getting a college degree.
Here’s everything we talked about today:










“College prices aren’t skyrocketing—but they’re still too high for some” from The Brookings Institution







“Forget that $90,000 sticker price: College costs are actually going down” from The Hill







“Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2022” (PDF) from College Board







“A Sign That Tuition Is Too High: Some Colleges Are Slashing It in Half” from The New York Times







“The incredible shrinking future of college” from Vox







“Ratings Firms Struggle With Climate Risk in $133 Trillion Market” from Bloomberg







“Yellen Says Extreme Weather Exposes Gaps in Insurance Protection” from Insurance Journal







“What Happened to Late Boomers’ Retirement Wealth?” from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College







We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.