Bloomberg gift doesn’t solve problem with skyrocketing tuition

Kudos to Michael Bloomberg for his historic gift to Hopkins (“What the Bloomberg gift means for Johns Hopkins — and Baltimore,” Nov. 19). Unfortunately, it does not address the raging increase in tuition rates at our colleges and universities, and this gift will only lead to further suppression of any examination of this important subject.

Since 1947, the year I was born, Harvard’s annual tuition has risen from $420 to $40,400, or 96 times over a span of 70 years. This is more than five times the rate of average inflation over this same period for the following basic items: gas prices per gallon have risen from 33 cents to $2.62, or 17.5 times; median rent has grown from $68 per month to $1,180, or17.4 times; and the average price of a car has risen 19.4 times, from $1,290 to $25,000. Notably, the consumer price index increase is far lower, rising just under 10 times since 1947.

There are no leaders in higher education or elsewhere challenging the outrageous increase in tuition rates among our public and non-profit institutions of higher learning.

David F. Tufaro, Baltimore