The Cost of Higher Education

[BlueTip]

I was digging around online and came across this opinion piece from last year. It's nearly a year old but still relevant on why college tuition has skyrocketed.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/the-real-reason-college-tuition-costs-so-much.html?WT.mc_id=2016-KWP-AUD_DEV&WT.mc_ev=click&ad-keywords=AUDDEVREMARK&kwp_0=87106&kwp_4=453362&kwp_1=254857&_r=0

 

A couple interesting excerpts:

 

"...a major factor driving increasing costs is the constant expansion of university administration. According to the Department of Education data, administrative positions at colleges and universities grew by 60 percent between 1993 and 2009, which Bloomberg reported was 10 times the rate of growth of tenured faculty positions."

 

"Even more strikingly, an analysis by a professor at California Polytechnic University, Pomona, found that, while the total number of full-time faculty members in the C.S.U. system grew from 11,614 to 12,019 between 1975 and 2008, the total number of administrators grew from 3,800 to 12,183 — a 221 percent increase."

[Getslow]

I've grown more and more convinced that there needs to be a tighter cap on federally-backed student loans and non-federally-backed loans should lose some protections so that they'll stopped being offered. Colleges and universities are getting free money and instead of using it to offset rising costs, they use it to try more and more new things and build bigger and faster.

 

The student debt problem has gotten out of control and we need to stop feeding the beast.

[Clyde]

Wow. That growth in administration is crazy but I think it's a symptom and not a cause. It comes about because of easy access to money for students which means schools can continue to spend.

 

The sooner our high schools decide to not try to push everyone (generally speaking) into traditional colleges the faster we start producing workers who have the skills that we need today.

[NKY Bandit]

Schools are competing against each other for headcount because each body is revenue. Same reason elementary schools focus on attendance more than math, they get paid (by the fed) based on headcount attendance, not if little Joey can do division.

[Clyde]

Schools are competing against each other for headcount because each body is revenue. Same reason elementary schools focus on attendance more than math, they get paid (by the fed) based on headcount attendance, not if little Joey can do division.

 

Same reason you see D3 colleges adding so many sports.

[LIPTON BASH]

I think Clyde and GetSlow made very good points . To build on that these are public universities, and as such part of the blame should be put on politicians both at that federal level and state level. There needs to be restrictions on where money can be spent if we are going to allow these loans. But it all comes back to these loans. The loans give the schools blank checks, the schools don't fight cost they just spend. Then the schools allow students to major in programs that will not allow them to pay the loans back in a reasonable time. Students get out of school and are hampered by high student loan payments which restricts their ability to spend in the economy.

 

Our college system is a mess.

[BlueTip]

The sooner our high schools decide to not try to push everyone (generally speaking) into traditional colleges the faster we start producing workers who have the skills that we need today.

 

I've often wondered if there's a possible model for either specific businesses or generic industry sectors to develop their own 'schools' with customized instruction sorta like vocational or technical schools.

 

Maybe it could be a 2 or 3 year "degree" with maybe a limited number of electives with 95% of the course schedule required courses.

 

But I'm guessing if this was a cost effective option for businesses someone would be doing this already.

[doomer]

I agree it is a mess, and we need to re-think first our paradigm about the value of the "prestigious" universities. The university one went to and its impact on recruitment and hiring still drives a lot of decisions. However, this helps to feed the system.

[Clyde]

I've often wondered if there's a possible model for either specific businesses or generic industry sectors to develop their own 'schools' with customized instruction sorta like vocational or technical schools.

 

Maybe it could be a 2 or 3 year "degree" with maybe a limited number of electives with 95% of the course schedule required courses.

 

But I'm guessing if this was a cost effective option for businesses someone would be doing this already.

 

I think Cincinnati Bell has helped Cincinnati Public Schools go that with with Taft High. It's now a "technology" school.

[Bengal Maniac]

I've often wondered if there's a possible model for either specific businesses or generic industry sectors to develop their own 'schools' with customized instruction sorta like vocational or technical schools.

 

Maybe it could be a 2 or 3 year "degree" with maybe a limited number of electives with 95% of the course schedule required courses.

 

But I'm guessing if this was a cost effective option for businesses someone would be doing this already.

 

Several businesses do this. One of the most successful is in Chicago with IBM and inner city schools.

[BlueTip]

Well I learned something new today. It's a good day.

[DragonFire]

Wow. That growth in administration is crazy but I think it's a symptom and not a cause. It comes about because of easy access to money for students which means schools can continue to spend.

 

The sooner our high schools decide to not try to push everyone (generally speaking) into traditional colleges the faster we start producing workers who have the skills that we need today.

 

I'd also argue that if jobs that have no business requiring college degrees would step back on those requirements, it sure would help as well. I've said for years that a college degree has become equivalent to what a high school degree used to be (i.e. don't bother applying if you don't have one). There are tons of people going to traditional colleges that have no business being there, and all it does is cost them money. Even worse, many come out the other side and still can't get a job.

[rjs4470]

Same reason you see D3 colleges adding so many sports.

 

Sports are a great enrollment driver. When you see 10% or more of a schools student body on the football roster, it really paints a clear picture.

[CincySportsFan]

Clyde, your comments are pretty much along the same lines as something I read from Mike Rowe not too long ago. The following is just an excerpt from a posting of his on Facebook.

 

Since I graduated, the cost of college has increased 1,120%. Nothing so important has ever gotten so expensive so quickly - food, medicine, even real-estate...the rise of tuition trumps them all, outpacing the consumer price index by over 400%. The question is why? Why has the cost of college risen faster than anything else?

 

Obviously, I’m not an economist. In fact, as Lars indicated, I may well be a moron. But if I wanted to drive the cost of college through the roof, I would first encourage employers to make a college degree a condition of employment. Then, I’d tell every high school kid their futures depended on getting a diploma. Then, I’d make sure that pop culture portrayed all non-college careers as second-class occupations. Finally, I’d make available an unlimited pile of money, and encourage those same kids to borrow whatever they needed to pay for that degree.

 

From what I can tell, that’s precisely what we’ve done. We’ve given colleges and universities free rein to charge whatever they want. And so they have.

[BirdBrain]

I've often wondered if there's a possible model for either specific businesses or generic industry sectors to develop their own 'schools' with customized instruction sorta like vocational or technical schools.

Maybe it could be a 2 or 3 year "degree" with maybe a limited number of electives with 95% of the course schedule required courses.

 

But I'm guessing if this was a cost effective option for businesses someone would be doing this already.

 

Happening right now in the Kentucky region. A mechanical contractor, in need of tube welders, has partnered with a local regional college, in this case the Ky Community college system, and has developed a course of study to get students a certificate in welding. (Gateway has one as well, but not as well backed by the industry companies)

 

The contractor in the case above has regular input into the curricula, sends applicants toward the school and essentially hires directly from the graduating classes. 2 year certification program turning out young welders starting out making around $60k....most are working for the contractor during school as well.

 

All initiated by the contractor because they could not find quality craft labor...some of the journeyman welders makes well over $100k annual.