June 14, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

New export price index for education

Export postsecondary education prices increased 4.9 percent from the 2005/06 academic year to the 2006/07 academic year, following a similar 5.1-percent advance the previous academic year.

[Chart data—TXT]

The new Export Postsecondary Education Index measures changes in prices for services provided by postsecondary educational institutions to foreign students studying in the United States. The index will be published annually, at the end of each academic year.

The Export Postsecondary Education Index measures price changes for room and board as well as tuition and fees paid by foreign, nonresident alien students at American colleges, universities, technical and professional schools. For example, the annual tuition rate paid by a German student pursuing a Master’s degree in the United States would be included in the Export Postsecondary Education Index. 

Expenditures by foreign students on non-institutional expenses, such as airfare, books, entertainment, and other living expenses are excluded from this index.

These data are from the BLS International Price program. Import and export price data are subject to revision. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes -- May 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0843, and in "How the Bureau of Labor Statistics Measures Price Change for Export Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Import/Export Price Indexes" (HTML) (PDF).