Financial issues facing students in the United States include the rising cost of tuition, as well as ancillaries, such as room and board, textbook and coursework costs, personal expenses, and transportation. After adjusting for inflation, average published tuition at public (4-year, in-state) and private non-profit universities has increased by 178% and 98%, respectively, from the 1990–91 school year to 2017–18. Net Price (tuition less aid received) has also grown, but to a much smaller degree, as most universities have increased their "discount rate" by offering more in student aid. After adjusting for inflation, average net price at public and private universities has increased by 77% and 17%, respectively, over the same time frame. The rising cost of education in the US A report in The Economist criticized American universities for generally losing sight of how to contain costs. Analyst Jeffrey Selingo in The Chronicle of Higher Education blamed rising costs on unnecessary amenities such as private residence rooms, luxury dining facilities, climbing walls, and sometimes even so-called lazy rivers similar to ones found in amusement parks. Another issue is the rising cost of textbooks. There are textbook exchanges for students who will accept a used text at a lower price. Lower priced alternatives offered by Flat World Knowledge are now available but have yet to make a significant impact on overall textbook prices. One explanation posits that tuition increases simply reflect the increasing costs of producing higher education due to its high dependence upon skilled labor. According to the theory of the Baumol effect, a general economic trend is that productivity in service industries has lagged that in goods-producing industries, and the increase in higher education costs is simply a reflection of this phenomenon. Some universities describe being caught in a dilemma where they are pressured to offer broader curricula and improve facilities to attract new students on one hand, but on the other hand these universities must raise tuition to compensate for state spending cuts and rising expenses. Annual undergraduate tuition varies widely from state to state, and many additional fees apply. Listed tuition prices generally reflect the upper bound that a student may be charged for tuition. In many cases, the "list price" of tuition – that is, the tuition rate broadcast on a particular institution's marketing platforms – may turn out to be different from the actual (or net) tuition charged per student. A student that has