Macroeconomic data not derived from the national accounts are also of wide interest, for example some cost-of-living indexes, the unemployment rate, and the labor force participation rate.
en.wikipedia.org Another way to say this is that whereas medical costs inflated at twice the rate of cost-of-living, college tuition and fees inflated at four times the rate of cost-of-living inflation.
en.wikipedia.org Cost is another major factor; though like per pupil costs, hard to generalize across states, due to differences in geography, cost-of-living costs, right-to-work vs. union states, etc.
en.wikipedia.org A cost-of-living index would measure changes over time in the amount that consumers need to spend to reach a certain utility level or standard of living.
en.wikipedia.org In 1982, housing allowances were decoupled from the cost-of-living adjustment index.
en.wikipedia.org