I too mentioned more taxpayer support for higher education. But everyone I know seems to complain about taxes.
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Not really. I mentioned public support (by everyone, not just parents) in funding public higher education. If there were more funds allocated to public higher education the schools would likely be less expensive.
I will say no more on this.
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Some of those administrators have to be paid more, because that’s what the market is. For example, to hire someone in IT requires a higher salary or the institution won’t get anyone because jobs in industry pay so well. And 30 years ago if IT departments even existed they would have been one or two people. Now, that’s impossible!
With the advent of social media and virtual info sessions, the communications department has become much more important. Someone posted about a school where the info session was just a boring talking head so they eliminated it from consideration. It costs money to create good graphics, websites, virtual tours, and talented humans who can hold one’s attention. Plus managing ALL the social media accounts and creating their content (which requires photographers and videographers).
And that’s just a start, and two departments.
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This information is not widely available to the public or disclosed to the public on CDSs for every college and university. Many CDSs for many schools are heavily redacted on their websites for the general public.
12.6M for one school certainly does grant a significant amount of federal money to one institution.
How does that bring college costs down for everyone?
I generally don’t support parent loans for college, I merely gave you the information you asked for…this information is readily available. This site (in the loan by type report) reports the total parent plus loan amount by quarter (note the school CDSs show all parent loans, not just the federally funded parent plus loans).
@simba9 and @kelsmom On the topic of “administrative bloat” here’s a link to a post I made in 2017 sharing an essay by Pomona College Professor John Seery on the topic, bemoaning the effect of the explosion in admins at SLAC’s: Burgeoning administrative bloat at LAC's - "Somewhere Between a Jeremiad & a Eulogy"
Within the 2017 post, I think the link to Seery’s article is now broken but it can be found here: Somewhere Between a Jeremiad and a Eulogy - Intercollegiate Studies Institute. His bottom line is that he believes that skyrocketing costs are due to the fact that administrators, not faculty or educators, run the institutions.
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Many of us have raised the possibility of reallocating budget dollars to education…which takes a lot of coordinated political will. It could work but it’s complicated…
-Many legislators would rather that money go somewhere other than education upon reallocation
-Many legislators and citizens would not support that money benefitting families with incomes greater than a certain level.
-Still others, if only considering education funding, would rather spend any ‘extra’ money on K-12 education, before public college systems.
(also not sure where the 2.5 million kids came from but there are currently about 14 million undergrads, with around 9m of those attending full-time). https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/CTEE_Report_Spring_2023.pdf
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Many doubt that more money given to public universities would have any impact on education itself, rather than ancillary services including extensive mental health support, lavish dorms, funded foreign trips, and a bloated administration. If colleges actually focused funds on teaching, they might have enough already.
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No matter what one’s desired outcome are, people have to advocate for the change they want to see.
True. At least in some states, citizens seem relatively happy with their public options. Perhaps those could be models for others. And perhaps most people could acccept an affordable public option for college just as happily as they do for K12 education, rather than seek private alternatives.
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This bears repeating.
I’ll see if I can dig up the metrics from when I was in college- but I think the university security staff was 8 or 9 retired cops. We all loved them- they drove around all day and into the evening (we joked it was because they could no longer walk or run), they’d offer you a ride home from the library if it was raining, the security office maintained its own lost and found (separate from the one at the library, the pool, the dining hall) so if you’d lost something valuable, you’d likely find it there locked up. Nice guys.
Now? No urban university can get away with that model. I actually drove a security van one semester (a cushy work/study job) with zero security training. The retired cops wouldn’t have known what to do with an anthrax scare in a lab, had zero tactical training in anything terrorist related, heck, they were flummoxed by the occasional suicidal student (the RA’s knew to get an ambulance and not bother with campus cops). Mass shooting event? Are you kidding?
You’d send your kid to a large urban campus with fewer than a dozen retired cops who were too out of shape to get out of their vehicle? Not likely.
Costs are up, no question. But the infrastructure of a modern university means 24/7 EVERYTHING.
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I’m not sure where all those lavish dorms are. My son’s dorm room at UMass Amherst was best described as Spartan. The dorm rooms at the very selective private schools I’ve toured with S24 have been similarly bare bones. Even the brand new dorm I stayed in for my college reunion (at a NESCAC school) was simple - yes the flooring was slightly nicer, and there was an extra window, but it couldn’t be described as lavish by any stretch of the imagination.
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Or less than a certain level… many citizens probably think that anyone richer than they are has enough money and does not need any additional help (to afford kids’ college, etc.), while anyone poorer than they are is lazy and undeserving and should work harder to earn more money.
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https://www.nxxxx.com/colleges/search/best-college-dorms/
Per your request
(Well known site. Not allowed to post it)
True that. D is currently at Hopkins - dorm rooms there are pretty basic.
S attended Stanford. Undergrad dorms were pretty basic. Graduate dorms, on the other hand, we’re pretty nice.
Most of my freshmen lived in 50+ year old dorms with no a/c, with hallway bathrooms. One got to live in a newer honors dorm with a/c (still hallway bathrooms), but had a forced triple, boy was that crazy tight! My kids never cared at all about dorms or dining halls, the nice on campus gyms were too crowded so they got off campus gym memberships. Honestly, I think the students don’t care, they are selling to the parents.
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Mine too. But they didnt attend any of the public ( or private) schools on the list for best dorms in America. Public schools in CA, MI, FL, PA and SC made that list, most of which I never heard of.
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I honestly doubt the costs will ever go down. I do remember Carthage College in WI changing their model recently and lowered the cost, but I think they lowered the aid as well.
Once I got back in the game 5 years ago I realized all options might not be feasible. We came up with options that would not cause loans. They weren’t first choices necessarily but solid options for each kid. My D19 thanked me for steering her to a choice that did not come with loans. She is extremely happy now not to be paying anything back. Does that mean some schools are out of reach sure but cost is still part of the equation. And for us it is high.
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There have been a few colleges that have lowered their tuition costs recently. Colby Sawyer in New Hampshire is one. It’s not free, but cost is much more modest. They have an excellent nursing program, for example. Places like this are getting attention around here because of the nice location and cost.
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I really liked the clear writing and coherent narrative that Willamette University shared around their “tuition reset” in 2021:
Rather than continuing to increase our prices each year — and then ratcheting up discounts through aid awards to offset the higher prices for families — we are making the conscious choice to be more transparent about what college really costs. Our standard tuition rate for students in the College of Arts and Sciences will be lowered about 20%, which more accurately represents what undergraduate students actually pay after scholarships and financial aid are applied. (Willamette will continue to offer robust merit scholarships and need-based aid to further reduce its new tuition rate.)
Many students and families don’t realize that colleges set high tuition prices that are then deeply discounted during the financial aid process. This outdated high price/high discount model can be confusing and prevents many college-bound students from considering all of their options. It also contributes to a perception of exclusivity, which is contrary to Willamette’s core values.
Willamette’s tuition reset is a big step, and one that aligns perfectly with its history of making college more accessible for all students.
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