Thanks for your comment - it's great to get some real insight here.
#1 and #2 raise a lot of questions and I'd love to hammer it out a bit more.
Total financial aid is increasing (#1), but that makes sense given that the number of low-income students is also increasing (#2).
The better metric is financial aid per low-income student (not just per student, since that is also expected to increase given that low-income is a higher percentage of the class each year). Is that number increasing year over year? If so, shouldn't that lead to a decrease in tuition, not an increase?
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At my university, I'm convinced #3 is the real driver of tuition increase. The number of administrators and staff is increasing spectacularly, but from the student perspective, it's not helping anyone but instead increasing frustration (e.g. if there's a problem, we're stuck escalating through more people until we reach a Dean who can actually do something). Thoughts?