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Education has been labor intensive. Being labor intensive means that it is exposed to healthcare costs.

I wonder how much of the rise is cost is tied to our inefficient healthcare system?

Depends on the course. An intro-level lecture course like Econ 101 is very labor-efficient: one professor teaches 500 students in a huge lecture hall, with the help of a few very poorly paid TAs.

Also, colleges are increasingly hiring adjunct faculty who receive no healthcare or other benefits.

If you measure efficiency as the number of students per lecture, sure. I never found large classrooms to be all that useful while I was at university. I certainly remember more from my smaller classrooms where I was more closely connected to my classmates and profs.

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