Now let\'s see how the CPI might get used in practice. Begin by reading two page
ID: 1173080 • Letter: N
Question
Now let's see how the CPI might get used in practice. Begin by reading two pages on this website: " Obtaining Data on the Consumer Price Index" and "Using the Consumer Price Index". These will give you the tools you need.
Your mission is to investigate the question: "How fast has tuition at Stetson increased, as compared with inflation?".
We begin with some historical data for Stetson tuition, as found in the table below. "Tuition" here just refers to tuition and fees; room and board charges are not included.
Clearly, tuition is high. And it has been growing rapidly over time. Put prices in general increase over time, because of inflation. That $7675 figure from 1988 does not mean the same thing as $7675 today.
Your mission on this part of the assignment is to make these non-comparable tuition figures comparable. The best way to do this is to put all the historical tuition figures into current (2013) terms. Use the CPI to do this. The pages referenced above tell you how to do so, and where to get the data you need. Use the September CPI figures for each year.
Your writeup should (1) give your computed value for all the tuition figures, in 2013 ("constant dollar") terms, (2) indicate how you obtained (computed) these results, and (3) state in a few sentences what your results say about the rate of tuition growth at Stetson.
Year Tuition 1988 $7,675 1993 $11,995 1998 $11,650 2003 $22,640 2008 $30,216 2013 $38,330Explanation / Answer
Obtaining Data on the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of cost of living, maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Data on historical values of the CPI can be obtained from the BLS website. Their home page is
This homepage has a "Latest Numbers" listing
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