The price of carbon dioxide emissions could be the next thing to drive up the cost of a university education, as Ivy Leaguers at Yale plan to set precedent by becoming the first school in the U.S. to enact a campus-wide "carbon charge" after signing a pledge at the White House earlier this week.

More than 200 universities attended a White House climate change summit Thursday to sign a pledge on taking steps to transition to a low-carbon economy and reduce the effects of global warming. Many scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions, primarily carbon dioxide, for raising the Earth's temperature, causing more severe weather, droughts and coastal flooding.

President Obama has been enlisting academic institutions and businesses to reduce their carbon emissions in the runup to a major United Nations climate conference in Paris Nov. 30. Obama intends to agree to a deal there that would commit the U.S. to reducing its emissions 26-28 percent by 2030.

Thursday's pledge reads: "Today our school pledges to accelerate the transition to low-carbon energy while enhancing sustainable and resilient practices across our campuses." Although it does not obligate campuses to enact so-called "carbon charges," Yale University has chosen to begin testing out the idea this year.

On Friday, Yale said the pledge "renews the university's commitment to maintaining a leadership role" on climate change. It notes that in 2005, the university established itself as a "global leader for climate change action" with an aggressive target of reducing greenhouse gases by 43 percent by 2020. And to that end, it announced a series of practices that includes the launch of a "campus-wide, internal carbon charge experiment."

Based on a report issued earlier this year by Yale, the charge appears to be derived from an economic model the White House has developed called the "social cost of carbon" metric. Republicans have criticized the administration's use of the metric in creating costly regulations to reduce emissions, saying the White House has not been transparent in the creation of the metric.

"In September 2014, Yale convened the Presidential Carbon Charge Task Force to consider whether it would be feasible and effective to institute a university-wide carbon charge," the university said. "Based on the task force's recommendation, and consistent with Yale's policy of leading by example on sustainability, Yale will soon announce a campus-wide plan for testing internal carbon charge mechanisms."

The task force said Yale would implement a pilot project on carbon pricing. The task force's report said the charge on carbon dioxide emissions would provide incentives for decision makers to reduce reliance on "carbon-intensive activities."

The task force's report issued in April sets the price of carbon dioxide at $40 per ton.

"The charge would initially be levied on carbon emissions from energy use, and other carbon-intensive activities would be studied for future inclusion," the report says. All facilities, including those off campus, should be included, the task force recommends.

The program should strive to be revenue neutral, meaning it wouldn't be used to generate funds or be included in budget considerations. But there are concerns about it driving up costs. "Two important questions are, who will administer the program, and who will take the financial risks involved?" the task force says.

The task force is recommending phasing in the program over the next three years to work out the kinks.

It also recommends making the $40 carbon price a "cap" on costs, rather than just a price floor for emissions reductions. That would help to eliminate exorbitant and misplaced spending on projects meant to make the campus more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient.

"For example, putting triple-glazed windows in a structure that is only lightly used in the summer might reduce emissions at a cost of $500 per ton (and accomplish nothing else)," the report says. "This investment would be ruled out by a $40 carbon-charge cap."

Yale's carbon charge will be the first of its kind the task force says. "A carbon-charge program such as the one proposed for Yale is clearly experimental."