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Also, despite complete cross-registration, I recall Columbia and Barnard did not appear next to each other in that WSJ "feeder school" study. I'm guessing Cornell's individual colleges also would not appear all together in such a study. Consumers would benefit from being made aware of these differences, IMO.
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<p>i agree. this is definitely a good "rebranding" strategy for a school like CAS. but perhaps Cornell is afraid of how some of the other colleges will fare? not sure.</p>
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As for faculty salaries, after adjusting for cost of living, esp housing, I'd guess you would find that Cornell profs are better off financially than many of these others. Wages of many professionals are lower away from the big cities.
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<p>i have heard the cost of living argument a lot, too. but it seems like if you want to increase the quality of the faculty, you could actually go the extra mile and offer them substantially more, as an incentive. at least until the academic rep increases and the money becomes less important. e.g. i don't think Berkeley profs make a lot, compared to their peers, especially considering their cost of living in the Bay area, but Berkeley is still a faculty magnet because of its academic rep. perhaps i just have no idea of the financial requirements such an initiative would require.</p>
<p>the grad students at Cornell are paid miserably though, by any standard/comparison.</p>
<p>the increase in financial aid for students is critical. this is one of the few areas where just throwing money at the problem helps immensely. it's very rare to find such a simple solution. there is, of course, the ethical dilemma of whether to give the aid based on merit or need. but once you get to a position like Harvard's, it doesn't matter. yet another argument to drive harder to help Cornell's endowment. I think Harvard funds about 30% of all its yearly activities just on endowment investment returns, without crimping the growth of the funds.</p>