20/09/2026
Every fall millions of American parents and caregivers make extraordinary sacrifices to send a child to college. They work overtime, postpone retirement, take on debt, or set aside other priorities because they believe higher education can create opportunities they never had.
Students make sacrifices, too. Many work nights and weekends, balance school with family responsibilities, or borrow against their futures because they believe a college degree is worth the investment.
Those sacrifices deserve accountability. And it is time for colleges and universities to provide it.
For years, higher education has responded to growing public skepticism by defending its value. Universities publish reports, commission studies, issue commentaries and put up billboards explaining why college still matters. We remind families that college graduates earn more than people without degrees over their lifetimes. We point to the role universities play in preparing the workforce, advancing research and strengthening communities.
Those arguments are important. But they miss the larger point.
Most Americans understand that a college degree can be valuable. What they increasingly question is whether universities have earned the right to charge what they do.
Families see tuition rise while university budgets grow more complicated. They see institutions scrutinize their finances while asking fewer questions about their own spending. And they hear universities explain why rising costs are unavoidable when they want something much simpler: evidence that every dollar is being used responsibly.
Better messaging will not restore public trust. Disciplined stewardship and measurable results will.
Families are right to expect universities to treat tuition dollars with the same care they bring to their household budgets.
Students are right to expect their degree to open doors to opportunity without leaving them burdened by unnecessary debt.
Taxpayers are right to expect public institutions to operate efficiently and demonstrate the value they create.
Universities are often good at explaining why costs are unavoidable. We should be equally willing to ask a harder question: Is every cost justified?
Before asking families to pay more, every university president and chancellor should be prepared to answer one fundamental question:
What have we done to deserve that investment?
Affordability is not an abstract principle. It is a lesson I have learned throughout my career in higher education leadership—as executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue University, as president of the University of Vermont and now as president of the University of Arizona.
Across those institutions, during the past 14 years, we have made a deliberate choice not to rely on across-the-board tuition increases.
Purdue froze tuition in 2013, and that freeze remains in place today. At Vermont, we froze tuition and fees for all students for five years. At Arizona, we have held resident undergraduate tuition flat for three consecutive years while eliminating a $177 million budget deficit and restoring the university's financial foundation.
Those outcomes did not happen because higher education suddenly became less expensive. They happened because we made different choices.
At Arizona, restoring financial sustainability required difficult decisions. We reduced administrative spending by more than 20 percent, dissolved inefficient multimillion-dollar administrative units and undertook a comprehensive review of leadership positions that reduced the number of vice presidents to three.
But controlling costs is only half of the responsibility.
A university must also make sure the education it provides creates meaningful opportunity.
That means strengthening transfer pathways with community colleges, expanding accelerated three-year medical and veterinary degree programs to help address critical workforce shortages, and providing flexible online programs that can reduce both the time and cost required to earn a University of Arizona degree.
It also means recognizing that a university education must deliver more than a diploma.
Graduates need preparation for meaningful careers, but they also need the judgment, resilience, adaptability and perspective to navigate a rapidly changing world.
That is why Arizona is using philanthropic support and industry partnerships to expand internships and experiential learning. We are also working to significantly increase study-abroad opportunities for students whose financial circumstances might otherwise put those experiences out of reach.
Opportunity should not depend on family income. It should be part of what every great public university provides.
The national conversation about higher education often focuses on elite private universities. These institutions have made extraordinary contributions, but they educate only a small share of America's college students.
The institutions that will determine whether most Americans can afford and obtain a college degree are our public universities—particularly regional universities and public flagships.
We educate millions of students from every background and create opportunities at a scale few other institutions can match.
Our defining strength should not be exclusivity. It should be excellence at scale, delivered at a price families can afford.
The American people are asking universities for something reasonable.
Challenge costs before raising prices. Reduce unnecessary bureaucracy before asking families to finance it. Measure success not simply by how many students enroll, but by the opportunities those students gain.
And when public universities demonstrate that kind of stewardship and produce meaningful results, states should respond with greater investment in the students those institutions educate.
That investment is not simply a subsidy for universities. It is an investment in the workforce, economic competitiveness and civic leadership that every state needs.
Public funding should support institutions that produce results, educate large numbers of students and responsibly manage both taxpayer and tuition dollars.
Americans should not have to trust higher education simply because university presidents tell them to.
They should trust us because the choices we make—and the results those choices produce—give them reason to.
Below are SAT-style Reading and Writing questions based on the passage. They focus on central ideas, inference, evidence, rhetorical purpose, transitions, and vocabulary in context.
SAT-Style Questions
1. Central Idea
Which choice best states the main idea of the passage?
A. Colleges should eliminate most administrative positions to reduce tuition costs.
B. Public universities should defend the value of higher education by emphasizing graduates’ lifetime earnings.
C. Universities can rebuild public trust by controlling costs, demonstrating responsible stewardship, and producing meaningful opportunities for students.
D. Elite private universities have failed to provide students with adequate educational opportunities.
2. Function of a Paragraph
The paragraph beginning “For years, higher education has responded…” primarily serves to
A. provide historical evidence that universities have consistently reduced tuition.
B. describe how universities have attempted to respond to criticism of higher education.
C. argue that universities should spend more money on public relations.
D. demonstrate that Americans no longer believe college degrees have value.
3. Inference
Which statement is most strongly supported by the passage?
A. The author believes that all universities should freeze tuition indefinitely.
B. The author believes that reducing costs should be accompanied by efforts to improve educational opportunities.
C. The author believes that private universities should receive less public funding than public universities.
D. The author believes that student debt is caused primarily by administrative spending.
4. Rhetorical Purpose
The question “What have we done to deserve that investment?” primarily functions to
A. introduce evidence that universities have recently increased tuition.
B. challenge university leaders to demonstrate responsible use of resources.
C. suggest that families should stop paying for higher education.
D. question whether college degrees have any economic value.
5. Vocabulary in Context
As used in the passage, “stewardship” most nearly means
A. promotion
B. management
C. competition
D. expansion
6. Evidence and Reasoning
Why does the author mention Purdue University, the University of Vermont, and the University of Arizona?
A. To show that the author has worked at several different types of universities.
B. To establish that public universities are more successful than private universities.
C. To provide examples of institutions where the author says tuition increases were avoided while other financial challenges were addressed.
D. To demonstrate that all universities can eliminate tuition entirely.
7. Logical Relationship
Which choice best describes the relationship between these two ideas?
“But controlling costs is only half of the responsibility.”
and
“A university must also make sure the education it provides creates meaningful opportunity.”
A. The second statement qualifies and expands upon the first.
B. The second statement contradicts the first.
C. The second statement provides historical evidence for the first.
D. The second statement introduces an unrelated concern.
8. Author's View
The author most likely includes the examples of accelerated medical and veterinary programs to
A. argue that professional degrees are more valuable than traditional degrees.
B. illustrate how universities can connect educational programs with workforce needs.
C. prove that three-year degrees are less expensive than four-year degrees in every case.
D. suggest that students should pursue careers in medicine or veterinary science.
9. Textual Evidence
Which quotation from the passage best supports the idea that universities should be accountable for how they spend money?
A. “Most Americans understand that a college degree can be valuable.”
B. “Graduates need preparation for meaningful careers…”
C. “Every unnecessary dollar a university spends is a dollar that a family must earn, save or borrow.”
D. “Opportunity should not depend on family income.”
10. Structure
The passage progresses primarily by
A. presenting a problem, explaining the author's approach to addressing it, and concluding with broader implications for public universities.
B. describing the history of American higher education chronologically.
C. comparing the financial performance of several universities and ranking them.
D. presenting opposing arguments and ultimately rejecting both of them.
11. Transition
Which choice completes the sentence with the most logical transition?
The author argues that universities should control unnecessary spending. ________, the author also argues that universities have a responsibility to expand educational opportunities.
A. Nevertheless,
B. For example,
C. Similarly,
D. In other words,
12. Inference
Based on the passage, the author would most likely agree with which statement?
A. Keeping tuition flat is sufficient to demonstrate that a university provides value.
B. Universities should measure their success partly by the opportunities and outcomes they create for students.
C. Public universities should focus primarily on increasing enrollment.
D. Universities should prioritize administrative efficiency over educational programs.
13. Words in Context
In the sentence “Our defining strength should not be exclusivity. It should be excellence at scale…”, the contrast between “exclusivity” and “excellence at scale” suggests that the author believes public universities should
A. serve relatively few students at exceptionally high costs.
B. imitate the admissions practices of elite private universities.
C. provide high-quality education to large and diverse populations.
D. eliminate selective admissions altogether.
14. Purpose of the Conclusion
The final three paragraphs primarily serve to
A. summarize specific administrative reforms at the University of Arizona.
B. broaden the author's argument from individual university decisions to the relationship between public universities and state funding.
C. introduce new evidence that contradicts the author's earlier claims.
D. explain why private universities should receive additional taxpayer funding.
15. Best Supporting Evidence
Which statement from the passage most directly supports the author's claim that universities should provide value beyond simply awarding degrees?
A. “Those sacrifices deserve accountability.”
B. “It also means recognizing that a university education must deliver more than a diploma.”
C. “The institutions that will determine whether most Americans can afford and obtain a college degree are our public universities…”
D. “Public funding should support institutions that produce results…”
Answer Key
1 C
2 B
3 B
4 B
5 B
6 C
7 A
8 B
9 C
10 A
11 A
12 B
13 C
14 B
15 B
Bright Prep difficulty breakdown
Easy: 2, 5, 9, 11, 15
Medium: 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 13
Hard: 3, 10, 12, 14
These are designed to resemble the current digital SAT Reading and Writing style, especially questions requiring students to identify a main idea, interpret a word in context, understand rhetorical structure, make an inference and select an effective transition by the Bright Prep.
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