Colleges Forced to Explain Why They Are So Damn Expensive

Over 500 colleges will have to submit reports to the government explaining tuition hikes, CNN reports. The Department of Education published a list this morning of schools that had the highest tuition increases over the last three years. Both private and public institutions are included and will have to tell Washington how they plan on handling these exorbitant costs. "College is expensive" will not be an acceptable excuse.

Some of the worst offenders include Arizona's three state universities, who had to increase tuition after the state made massive education cuts. ASU, for example, had to raise tuition fees by 38% since 2007. (Hey, Arizona, you're making Medicaid cuts as well! We're sure that won't backfire either.)

The Department of Education also launched an interactive website that ranks the highest and lowest tuition costs at different types of universities.

While it's nice to know that Washington is acknowledging the runaway costs of higher education, they won't actually do anything about it; they will merely listen to the universities explain themselves. Half-assed, last-minute bullshit explanations for a job poorly done? This is just like college!

Uncle Sam calls out steepest college tuition hikes [CNNMoney]