Best Value Colleges: Reports Look at Affordability Metrics and the Top 10 in Colorado

A report coauthored by Kim Dancy, analyzing value in higher education, was cited by the Denver Business Journal regarding affordability metrics and the best value colleges in Colorado:

College affordability based on price alone doesn't paint a full picture, because it leaves out relevant metrics like economic returns and completion rates, according to a study released today.

The study, " The Affordability Conundrum: Value, Price and Choice in Higher Education Today," was a joint effort of the Manhattan Institute, New America's Education Policy and the American Enterprise Institute. It calls into question the common belief that college is becoming more unaffordable.

Study authors Beth Akers, Kim Dance [sic] and Jason Delisle find that much of that belief is rooted in the Lumina Foundation's "Rule of 10," a widely-accepted price-based benchmark to college affordability that says: "Students should pay no more for college than the savings generated through 10 percent of discretionary income for 10 years and the earnings from working 10 hours a week while in school."