Higher education institutions: capturing the true cost of inflation?

Young female students talking while enjoying lunch in cafeteria at community college

Over the past 40 years, the inflation rate in the US higher education space — as measured by the Commonfund Institute’s Higher Education Price IndexTM (HEPI) — has exceeded the headline inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by almost 40% on a cumulative basis.

By using CPI in spending policy calculations, colleges and universities across the country may be underestimating the true level of inflation for those institutions, and thus, investment return goals may inadvertently erode purchasing power.

Higher education institutions: capturing the true cost of inflation?

Over the past 40 years, the inflation rate in the US higher education space — as measured by the Commonfund Institute’s Higher Education Price IndexTM (HEPI) — has exceeded the headline inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by almost 40% on a cumulative basis.

Higher education institutions: Capturing the true cost of inflation?

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