ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Higher Education Price Index

Okay kiddo, let me explain what the higher education price index (HEPI) is.

When you grow up and you want to go to college, your parents will need to pay for it. But the amount of money that your parents will pay for college changes every year. This is where the HEPI comes in - it helps your parents understand how much college will cost in the future by predicting how much the price of college will increase each year.

Now let's talk a little bit about how the HEPI works. The HEPI measures how much the cost of college is going up compared to the cost of other things, like food, clothing, and housing. This is because the price of everything goes up over time - this is called inflation.

The HEPI looks at how much prices are going up for things like salaries for college professors, lab equipment, and utilities for the college campus. The HEPI then combines all of these different price increases and comes up with a number that predicts how much college will cost in the future.

So, when your parents are trying to save up enough money for college, they use the HEPI to help them plan for how much the cost of college will increase each year. And that's what the higher education price index is - a tool that helps your parents plan and save for your future college education!