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Tuition hikes are fine when someone else pays the real cost, and in this case, it's typically other students at a college who end up footing the bill for some professor's kid to go there free or at a reduced price. As tuition rates have increased, tuition remission has evolved from a nice extra to a big-ticket benefit, surpassing health care for those workers who take advantage of it in a particular year.

"Private colleges raise their tuition 65 cents for every dollar increase in federal subsidized loans and 55 cents for Pell grants given to low-income students, according to the report. College tuition has outstripped U.S. inflation for decades."

"As the cost of college in the U.S. soars to record levels, American students in growing numbers are enrolling in schools abroad, where tuition fees are substantially lower-and in some cases nonexistent. Annual tuition and fees for a private, nonprofit four-year university in the U.S. last year averaged $31,231, according to the nonprofit College Board. In Germany, universities receive so much in government subsidies that most students-including international students-pay no tuition at all."

"To nudge students toward job-friendly degrees, the governor's task force on higher education suggested recently that university tuition rates be frozen for three years for majors in "strategic areas," which would vary depending on supply and demand. An undergraduate student would pay less for a degree in engineering or biotechnology - whose classes are among the most expensive for universities - than for a degree in history or psychology."

"The kalamazoo promise was simple. Live here, go to school, and your tuition is paid for. But with scale comes complication. The idea of free college is still in its infancy-it took 28 years to get the Morrill Act right, and it's only been 13 since the Kalamazoo Promise. But in the current political climate, the path forward is murky and winding, and that makes it hard for the movement to maintain the momentum it needs. The window of opportunity for nationwide tuition- or debt-free college is still ajar. The next couple of elections could close it completely or throw it wide open.  "

"Between 2006-07 and 2011-12, average published tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities increased by about $1,800 in 2011 dollars, an annual rate of growth of 5.1% beyond inflation. The average net tuition and fees in-state students pay after taking grant aid from all sources and federal education tax credits and deductions into consideration increased by about $170 in 2011 dollars, an annual rate of growth of 1.4% beyond inflation."

"To start college, the typical student must meet admission requirements (if any), enroll and pay tuition. But what if anyone anywhere could try out a prominent university's classes for a small fee and wait until the end to decide whether to pay tuition for credit toward a diploma? That is one of the groundbreaking ideas behind an Arizona State University plan, announced Wednesday, to offer a freshman curriculum online through the nonprofit Web site called edX."

"As the online education market has matured, however, there has been a growing pushback against revenue-sharing as the only model available. Thus there is an emerging unbundled fee-for-service OPM model, in which the companies offer the same services, or some subset, for the market price of those services. The institution pays for the services used, mostly independent of the amount of tuition revenue coming into the online program. This category leads to the program, or institution, to take the up-front financial risk but not have to sign contracts sending ~40 - 60% of the tuition revenue to the vendor. Fewer strings attached but more responsibilities and risks for the school."

"While $199 might cover just a single credit (or much less) at a typical college, the same fee buys a month of unlimited classes at New Charter University, one of two online schools by startup firm UniversityNow. The pricing structure is similar to online college course provider StraighterLine's model, launched in 2008, which charges $99 per month of enrollment, plus $49 per class."

"Instead of paying tuition and fees, students in the program would sign a contract to pay a percentage of their gross income to the state or their college or university after graduation for a specified number of years. The program would be available only to Rhode Island residents, and students would be required to graduate on time in order to remain eligible."

University of Baltimore students won't have to pay for their last semester of school anymore, under one condition: They must finish on time. The program, called Finish4Free, is more than a nice gesture to cut students a break on their school debt. The university thinks that letting students finish their last semester for free will encourage more to finish on time.

And in many states, a larger state appropriation is part of a compact that lawmakers are striking with college leaders: We'll give you some extra cash if you agree to freeze tuition. It's a bargain that legislators and higher-education leaders are willing to make in order to stem the rising costs of college.

"Ivory Tower takes a look at universities and their transformation from providers of education to business ventures that strive to be the biggest and the best providers of the "college experience". The competition among these institutions of higher learning has had an adverse effect on those they are suppose to serve. From less rigorous curriculums to higher tuition prices, the universities have changed the way Americans think of educations. Students are now consumers and university presidents are CEOs overseeing multiplexes of the college experience. In order to pay for that experience, students are taking out an average of about $30,000 in student loans. The overall student debt in the US has now surpassed $1tn."

Mission U provides students career-focused, online courses with zero up-front costs. After graduating, students don't pay any tuition until they're earning a yearly salary of $50,000 or more, in which time they would pay 15% of their paycheck to Mission U for 3 years. After those three years are up, students are completely debt free.

"the program is simple: If you don't have a degree, and you want one, your tuition is free. That's important because research shows the greatest obstacle for adults looking to go back to school is money. They often have to maintain a household budget while reducing work hours, paying for dependent care, and more."

"Point Loma began offering some of its 4,500 students money to pay for college in exchange for a percentage of their future earnings. The model, known as an income share agreement, requires colleges and students to take a chance on each other, a shared responsibility that attracted Point Loma."

Colleges are raising tuition and fees every year, at a rate of increase that far outpaces any reasonable expectation. One might think this is the kind of thing that couldn't continue forever, but that's precisely what has been happening over the past several decades. Prices have gone up, and buyers have poured in anyway, buoyed by a flood of seemingly cheap government money in the form of student loans. As with any bubble, there are doomsayers who are mostly ignored and cheerleaders who say that this time it's different. But-as with any bubble-reality is starting to intrude.

All OMS CS course content will be delivered via the massive open online course (MOOC) format, with enhanced support services for students enrolled in the degree program. Those students also will pay a fraction of the cost of traditional on-campus master's programs; total tuition for the program is initially expected to be below $7,000. A pilot program, partly supported by a generous gift from AT&T, will begin in the next academic year. Initial enrollment will be limited to a few hundred students recruited from AT&T and Georgia Tech corporate affiliates.

""Canvas Network allows institutions to define the structure of their courses and the approach to teaching that makes the most sense to them. Some institutions have chosen to pursue a massive open online course format (MOOC), and some have chosen to pursue a smaller online course format with more interaction. Often the courses are taught on the same platform the institution uses to teach tuition-based courses, which means students have a seamless experience as they progress through their academic journey.""

"The rising discount rate, coupled with enrollment declines at several of the institutions surveyed, is a reflection of the myriad forces that are making it harder for colleges to get students and their families to pay top dollar for a college education. Those forces include a decline in the number of traditional-aged college students, increased competition for students with the ability to pay, decreased household incomes, increased scrutiny of tuition hikes, and more questioning of the value of a college degree."