Students Paying More and Getting Less, Study Says

[OhioChick]

Source: New York Times

Published: January 15, 2009

College students are covering more of what it costs to educate them, even as most colleges are spending less on students, according to a new study.

The study, based on data that colleges and universities report to the federal government, also found that the share of higher education budgets that goes to instruction has declined, while the portion spent on administrative costs has increased.

It describes a system that is increasingly stratified: the smallest number of students — about 1 million out of a total 18 million students — attend the private research universities that spend the most per student. The largest number of students — 6 million — attend community colleges, which spend the least per student, and have cut spending most sharply as government aid has declined.

“Students are paying more, and a greater share of the costs, but are arguably getting less,” said Jane Wellman, the executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity and Accountability, which drafted the study.





Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/us/16college.html?hp

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I heard this morning that next year college tuition will be increasing by 14%. Insane.

[DCKit]

1. Healthcare and Higher Education are both out of control.

Big Oil is setting a terrible example.

[bemildred]

43. Corrupt rackets 'R us, indeed. nt

[midnight]

2. Money goes to sports? Just wondering.....

[Longhorn Liberal]

9. MLF

Minor League Football is how most of the "big name" schools attain academic excellence, dontcha know?

[WriteDown]

12. Actually...

sports programs make money for schools. They are not a drain.

[JerseygirlCT]

16. I think it depends

At a big school, with a big program, probably yes. At a smaller - say div. 3 - school, probably no. Football is really expensive - lots of people, lots of equipment. So smaller schools are still laying out the same dough, but the games don't really attract crowds - or much in the way of alumni dollars.

And outside of the big stuff - football, basketball - I'm not sure sports programs really attract a lot of money to the school - except, probably, again, with the big places known for sports teams.

[MellowDem]

21. Not really

The vast majority of schools in Div. 1 lose money on their sports.

[WriteDown]

31. I find that hard to believe...

considering all the alumni funds it draws in. Not to mention jerseys, sweatshirts, etc.

[mbperrin]

35. Most lose money. Here's your link:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/05/16/ncaa
A (Money) Losing Proposition
The patterns have been clear for some time, to anyone spending even a modicum of time examining the numbers. But a recently released financial survey from the National Collegiate Athletic Association — modified from earlier versions of the report that sometimes obscured the reality — makes abundantly plain that playing big-time college sports is, on balance, a money-losing enterprise. And it is growing increasingly so with each passing year, as expenses accelerate faster than revenues.


much more at link

[Bill McBlueState]

32. It might be true that most sports programs make money

But what do they do with the money they make? Are the revenues from the average D-IA football program going to hire top-notch humanities professors or build modern teaching labs? Or are they going into new weight-training facilities?

[sasquatch]

38. Ohio State's athletic department funding is completely independent from University funding

[Confusious]

3. Student loan system is FKuped

I had to agree to 13% interest rate on the last loan. I'm new to the system, and they don't tell you sht. Parasite bankers will be feeding off me for years to come.

I'm going to be looking around some more, but I was in a pinch and had to agree.

[ihavenobias]

4. K & R. This whole 'the world is flat, free trade is great for everyone' line needs to be shot down..

At the very least the 'flat earthers' need to concede that the US will be screwed with free trade until our post secondary education is free or at least cheap.

[elleng]

26. 'Free trade' isn't free;

'markets' don't always get it right.

'Once there was just Newtonian physics and the world seemed neat and mechanical. Then quantum physics came along and revealed that deep down things are much weirder than they seem. Something similar is now happening with public policy.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/opinion/16brooks.html?ref=opinion

[Azlady]

5. 14% increase next year for tution & yet students are getting less -

How about the cap the Salaries of Deans, etc etc.

[OhioChick]

7. I hear that many Deans make a cool Mil. n/t

[Lance_Boyle]

10. HAH! Where?

Yes, some administrators are overpaid, but they're just trying to keep up with the football coaches (I'm looking at YOU Butch Davis! And YOU David Cutcliffe!). Show me one Dean, or even one Chancellor, bringing in $1million in salary each year.

[OhioChick]

13. Ohio State...More than $802,000...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=4421772

Also....do a search in LBN, there was an article posted by someone that contained a list of Deans in the U.S. making $1 Million/year.

[OhioChick]

14. College president pay: The $million club

College president pay: The $million club

November 14, 2005: 9:12 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – For the first time, compensation for private college presidents has broken through the million-dollar barrier.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/11/pf/college/college_president_pay/index.htm

Keep in mind that's from 2005...nearly 4 years old!!!!

[Lance_Boyle]

39. college presidents are not college deans. n/t

[truedelphi]

15. They might not make a million, but past Presidents at Stanford spent

$ 60K a year on flowers.

[OhioChick]

19. .....

Snip~ "Gee, who made $1.1 million as chancellor at Vanderbilt,"

http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_8753.shtml

From Jul 16, 2007

[Lance_Boyle]

40. again, not a dean, and the million plus figure

includes compensation from two universities.

So I guess I'm still waiting for the list of deans making a mil plus. :shrug:

[Xithras]

11. That's extremely rare.

There may be a few, but most are in the very low six figures.

[OhioChick]

37. Not as rare as you may think....see above. n/t

[Waiting For Everyman]

6. It's indentured servitude again.

And the tax deductions don't amount to anything. It should be for the full amount paid. (And btw, I'm a boomer so it doesn't affect me, but it's an outrage.)

When we had publicly owned state universities, those with good grades went for free. And paid tuition wasn't much. Gee, letting all that private profit and middlemen into the system really made it a lot better, huh? :sarcasm:

[GoesTo11]

8. Obfuscation - it's really about cuts in public funding

Tuition goes up at public schools to replace the funding that's cut. They're not raking in a bunch of extra
tuition money to go spending on new junk. The right likes to cut funds then attack public universities for raising tuition so they can justify cutting funds more.

[exboyfil]

23. The problem is education inflation is far outstripping

income. Last year our local university increased its budget by 10% (this is their actual budget before funding sources). The student population did not increase. Income growth in the state was small at best so how is the 10% going to be covered?

[Libertyfirst]

17. Colleges are competing more and spending on less on instruction and more

on workout centers, fancy dormitory complexes, dining facilities, all the things that students look at rather than quality of academic programs, class size, and student-faculty ratio. But please note, even the author quoted, who has an axe to grind, says students are "arguably" getting less. A sure sign her evidence is not that strong. I have just finished reading the entire report and the most important point is makes is that state's have cut funding for higher education. However, she would have done well to argue that education benefits everyone in society, not merely it immediate recipients.

[JerseygirlCT]

18. Yes

And while my alma mater is now pretty darned gorgeous, and the facilities surely beat anything I had, the tuition is through the roof. A killer. So I do hope they stop with the big capital improvements for a good while, and focus HARD on keeping tuition down and offering real aid (not just loans) to potential students. Having the place be just a playground for the very rich, and the overseas students, would really be a shame.

[exboyfil]

22. My father in law is a former head of a Department

thinks a big drain (at least at his 1-AA school) is from the sports program. By the time you add in all the costs of running the program, the men's football and basketball cannot nearly cover the bill (the other sports are money losers from the start).

You brought up some additional areas as colleges compete for the best students and professors, their infrastructure expenses have increased dramatically (just look at the new Wellness Centers, dorms, etc to see where some of the money is going).

Last years proposed budget at the local university (not the actual budget after the state mandated cutbacks) requested 10% than the previous year. Now I know the number of students has not increased - why the large increase? After the deflationary pressures this year, would you not expect to see a budget decrease next year?

Some low hanging fruit is still left to be picked at the university. One possibility is health insurance which still is a low deductible plan.

I would like to see my state go to a prepaid tuition plan, but it is not going to happen. I got to imagine many states are sucking wind right now with their plans since I bet a good chunck of the plan dollars were in equities in an attempt to keep up with education inflation.

Since education inflation is rising much faster than wages, then you would expect the state's ability to cover public school education would be strained. Even if the percentage take of income stays the same, where will the extra dollars come from to make up the difference?

Demand, in part, drives education inflation so what impact does additional financial aid dollars have (both in the form of direct aid and loans???). I personally think the loan situation is criminal, and, if Obama, can do one thing, I would like to see him institute a plan in which kids starting at 15 and working part time to 22 can fully fund a public school education.

[2Design]

20. loss of a lot education funds at federal and state levels have left

the colleges in the lurch

[exboyfil]

24. Ways to set tuition rates

Currently most universities charge the same tuition for every B.S./B.A. candidate (with some lab fee differences etc).

I would like to get feedback on which you think is the fairest proposal:

1. Current system where tuition is allocated across every student equally.
2. A system in which the prorated actual cost of instructing the student is allocated to the student (engineers for example cost more because their professors make more and they need more expensive labs etc)
3. Allocate tuition based upon future earnings potential

[elleng]

25. 'STUDENTS' are paying more?

PARENTS are paying more!!!!

[Bill McBlueState]

33. A little of column A, a little of column B

If you're claiming the number of students who pay their own way is insignificant, you should ask a random sample of students at your state university what they're doing to pay the tuition bill.

[elleng]

42. I recognize that;

my one daughter is still in school, and the other has graduated and going on for a masters. I'm paying, and they try.

[KillCapitalism]

27. It's getting to where college isn't worth it anymore.

Years ago a college education was pretty affordable to almost anyone & that degree just about came with a guarantee of a good paying job.

Here in 2009, you go into debt to the tune of $40K+ with absolutely no guarantee of getting a decent paying job, or even any job at all in this awful economy.

[HughBeaumont]

29. What are you going to tell the laid off worker? Go back to school?

Uh . . . FOR WHAT JOB?

What do we tell the blue collar worker who just lost his job? "You gotta retrain!" Uh, that's nice, except when he/she's seeing people with bachelor's and master's degrees getting shitcanned from their jobs just like they are.

With every MBA that these colleges churn out, that only means you don't stand out anymore. One has to keep running on a constant treadmill of school and work just to survive, and it's not even guaranteed.

All we're doing is giving money to someone else in the hope that we can make money for someone else. "Well, BECOME that someone else!" Riiiiiiiiiight. You know, because I have tons of start-up capital, a product to sell, an audience for that product, money to pay for medical care, repeat business and an insane amount of luck which will drive me to be the 1 out of 10 small businesses that DOESN'T fail. I can sure pay the bills on THAT crapshoot.

It's just POINTLESS and HOPELESS.

[OhioChick]

36. Exactly.....Go back to school for what? (and with what money?) n/t

[MrsBrady]

28. my public college gets only 15% of it's budget from the state -- a big WTF

I just spent 3.5k on 15 credit hours.

I don't know if that is high or not, but if that a public institution -- i would hate to see private tuition costs.

[Romulox]

30. As an alum of a public school where the dean DOES make a mil, one of the scams they run

is over-recruiting out of state and foreign students. They get to collect the state subsidies while simultaneously charging the higher out of state tuition rates AND get a pliant GSE pool.

[Bill McBlueState]

34. GSE = graduate student employee?

It's overly general to say that all international GSEs are "pliant," but certain heavily represented countries do have a tradition of not rocking the boat.

[Lance_Boyle]

41. name the school if not the dean. I continue to doubt the mil + figure. n/t