Heartland Institute Education Experts React to Report on Burden of Federal Regulations on Universities

Published October 23, 2015

A Vanderbilt University report published this week shows colleges around the country spend $27 billion a year to comply with federal rules and regulations. While these compliance costs put large burdens on universities, they also serve to drive up the cost of higher education.

The following statements from education policy experts at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Director of Communications Jim Lakely at [email protected] and312/377-4000.


“The Vanderbilt study illustrates the unnecessary costs imposed on education by the federal government and its penchant for over-regulation. Technology has created a situation where the cost of delivering education is actually dropping like a stone. The increasing costs for higher education are primarily a bureaucratic phenomenon.”

Bruno Behrend
Senior Fellow, Education Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000


“The Vanderbilt study on the costs of governmental regulatory compliance highlights a major reason for the ever-increasing costs of college attendance. Reducing this regulatory burden will allow for a reduction in tuition rates and aid in reducing the student debt burden.”

Lennie Jarratt
Project Manager, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
847/302-3985


The Heartland Institute is a 31-year-old national nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.