On April 12, Northwestern announced that the 2019-2020 academic year would see a 3.9 percent rise in tuition, bringing it to a record high of $56,232. This follows the 3.6 percent tuition hikes for both the 2018-2019 school year and the 2017-2018 school year.

“We don’t want to leave money on the table,” Provost Jonathan Holloway said of the recent tuition increase for the university.

This begs the question: When did students become mere customers, clients for universities to squeeze every cent out of? The tuition increase for the next academic year is the largest in a series of consistent price increases. Unfortunately, Northwestern is not the only school guilty of hiking up tuition prices; elite universities throughout the country have been following this trend as well. The problem here lies not just with one institution, but rather in the market for higher education as a whole.

My inner economist recognizes a key issue within this industry, which allows universities to abuse the overwhelming power that they hold over students. In a normal market, price increases lead to decreases in demand, as consumers exercise their freedom to choose lower-cost alternatives. However, students already enrolled in four-year universities lack this option to choose. This results in the highly inelastic demand curve for higher education which negatively impacts students. Speaking plainly, a change in the price of tuition does not automatically result in a dramatic decrease in enrollment of students in a university. Because of this, students will continue to enroll at Northwestern and other elite universities due to the demand for higher education, leaving universities in a position of power to increase the tuition to consistently higher rates.

One argument supporting price increases in higher education is that the overall cost of running a university is rising: students are seeking smaller class sizes, improved technology and top-notch facilities, among other resources. Yes, universities are becoming more costly, but this does not justify such drastic tuition increases. Universities should leverage other revenue streams, including donors, sponsors and athletic events, rather than placing the burden on students.

As students already enrolled at Northwestern, we have committed to pursuing our degrees for four years. We are locked in and must pay tuition until we complete our full course of study. Sure, there are alternative options — dropping out of college or transferring to a significantly less prestigious university. But these options only hurt us and negatively affect our future. Realistically, committing to pursuing a degree at Northwestern does not allow students to drop out simply due to tuition increases. As a current sophomore at Northwestern, I sighed when I realized that, despite my qualms, I will, in fact, pay the increased tuition for 2019-2020. I will continue to do so until I finish my degree, as will just about all of my fellow undergraduate students. We are trapped, inadvertently roped into the university’s financial scheme.

In a market with so little room for students to seek alternatives, universities have unprecedented power. They can name their price, and students will pay in order to return to school each year.

So this poses the real question: What is the role of higher education? Should these institutions be allowed to take advantage of America’s beloved free market and readily charge students any price they desire? Something as essential to social good as higher education cannot be allowed to function like a vicious market.

In the modern job environment, higher education is no longer an added bonus to your resume. An undergraduate education is now seen as a baseline requirement, across all industries. College teaches students important professional skills including leadership and independent thinking, but also helps students achieve unprecedented personal growth. Treating such an integral experience as a good to be purchased feels unjust.

Education is not a commodity: education is not a new pair of shoes, a fancy car or the latest model of the iPhone. Education is the key to growth and productivity, not just to individuals but to this country as a whole. Similarly, students are not customers. We are not sources of money for our universities.

We are active contributors on our campuses and forces for driving change in the future, and we deserve to be treated as the invaluable resources that we are.

Mary Tucker is a SESP sophomore. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.