ABSTRACT
The higher education system in the United States is often described by researchers as a market. But, describing this immense, diverse system as a single market paints over its subtleties. Rather than consisting of one market of likeminded consumers with similar access to identical goods, the US higher education system comprises of many markets, where very different colleges and universities produce and sell unique commodities to groups of consumers, who may or may not be competing for the same goods. This chapter makes the claim that understanding these markets is central to any analysis of the broader system. We argue that undergraduate students choosing a college or university among these markets are as diverse as the colleges and universities that seek their tuition dollars, and the prices they pay and subsidies they receive are illustrative of the intricacies and inconsistencies of the US markets.
