<p>Article in today's Boston Globe reports that Brandeis administrators are proposing cuts to faculty and programs. Also reported is a 12% DROP in applications. Are there other colleges and universities followed by CC members that have reported fewer applications?</p>
<p>Faculty</a> cuts at Brandeis proposed - The Boston Globe</p>
<p>Well, I think this is the beginning of the cuts we will read about at private colleges. Something has to change. People may not like it, but one cannot offer what is unsustainable. The cost of tuition is out of hand for anyone but the wealthy, IMO. We have increased loans to the point that freshmen are being asked to borrow 5500 for their first year of school. Many are taking out additional private loans to pay an EFC they cannot afford. Parents who are a few years from retirement feel a need to borrow using PLUS loans to fund educations. How much more can we ask an 18 year old who has probably never worked at a full time job to borrow? Nobody knows if they will graduate, or be able to find a job in today’s market when they do graduate. So many schools have 50% graduation rates after SIX years!</p>
<p>I agree that the cost of private colleges is not sustainable. I’ve seen parents take out loans or use their savings for the first child to attend a private, and then not have the ability to do the same for the second or third child.</p>
<p>cutting Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Yiddish, Eastern European Jewish culture, theater, and selling art in the Rose Museum…in favor of new business courses…isn’t that rather ironic at the least? one would think that eliminating or reducing those aspects of the university that evoke their legacy/mission and that of many of their donors would raise hackles, rather than necessary funding.</p>
<p>^^ Could this be a stradegy to get some donors to reinstate programs like the Yiddish minor by donating funds specifically to keep that program going? This might be the needed fuel to get people to donate now. Just another way of looking at it. Still the rising tuition is not sustainable for anyone other than the wealthy or the handful who are awarded free tuition.</p>
<p>Frankly, what’s going on at Brandeis is nothing compared to what is happening at other private schools. Not only are some private schools actually closing down,but many of even the best schools are affected. For example, Williams , who instituted a no loan policy, just revoked their policy. Newspaper articles have noted that kids with no financial need have a better shot any a number of top colleges than they might have had a few years ago. Colleges are NOT as need blind as they used to me.</p>
<p>Also, don’t think that state schools are exempt from the today’s economic conditions. Many state schools are cutting programs, increasing class size and reducing enrollment and cutting down on scholarships. This is particularly true for the University of California.</p>
<p>Frankly, I think schools like Brandeis should find cuts in other ways such as offering more classes through the internet. In fact, schools can form a consortium with one well- known teacher used to teach intro courses at hundreds of schools and beamed through the internet or through closed circuit TV. TAs can then supplement the lecture with questions and additional material ,which would substantially decrease costs. I think the era of live access to top professors will be a thing of the past, especially for intro courses. You first heard it here!</p>
<p>northestmom and taxguy are correct. Similar cuts are happening elsewhere and there are undoubtedly more to come.</p>
<p>At this point the cuts are part of a proposal from a faculty committee. This proposal will go through several rounds of discussion with various groups including students and other faculty before it goes to the Trustees for approval. Here is a link to the full report: [Brandeis</a> 2020 Committee releases academic restructuring proposals | BrandeisNOW](<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2010/february/2020report.html]Brandeis”>Brandeis 2020 Committee releases academic restructuring proposals | BrandeisNOW) I haven’t read it carefully, but it is my understanding the Hebrew major will be cut, not Hebrew entirely. And Yiddish and Eastern European Jewish Culture will be merged into the Near Eastern and Judaic studies department.</p>
<p>From a PR perspective, I just hope Brandeis handles this better than the Rose Art Museum debacle.</p>
<p>Two thoughts:</p>
<p>1) I think it’s pretty safe to assume that the cuts track enrollment trends straightforwardly. In the university world, enrollments talk. If business enrollments are increasing, then more must be spent on those programs or quality and reputation may suffer. That money must come from somewhere. The logical place to get it from is the budgets of programs where classes are consistently underenrolled or canceled for lack of interest. I don’t have firsthand knowledge that the programs affected by these cuts fall into that category, but it’s a reasonable assumption. A university can only go so far in funding its “legacy/mission” in the teeth of clearly stated student preferences.</p>
<p>2) As the father of a Brandeis applicant with a pretty low EFC, I was very encouraged to read this: “The changes, which the provost is expected to review in coming weeks, were prompted by a downturn that has cut into donations and endowment, and increased the need for student financial aid, said Adam Jaffe, dean of arts and sciences.”</p>
<p>It also sounds like most of the cuts relate to graduate students and, according to a poster in the Brandeis forum, eliminating redundancies.</p>
<p>It does not appear that the proposed cuts will have much impact on undergraduates. Primarily, it appears that the changes are designed to eliminate redundancy in a number of graduate programs, and some weaker graduate programs will be reduced or, in some cases (such as the PhD program in anthropology, eliminated. Overall, the cuts are certainly not draconian. These same kind of adjustments are going to be occurring at many other places.</p>
<p>The drop in applications is not surprising in light of the public relations fiasco surrounding the Rose Art Museum (which was not closed) and steep drop in current gifts to the University, do to the fact that a number of major donors were significantly affected by the Madoff scandal. I believe they will recover from this drop quickly–probably next year. Since applications at many of its peer institutions were up this year–applicants will soon figure out that their chances for admission are better at Brandeis, and that Brandeis still offers a very high quality education.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I believe most schools who are making cuts are working very hard to preserve or even increase (Grinnell) their financial aid budgets. The pull back at Williams (and I believe Middlebury) on loan caps are understandable.</p>
<p>teaching the subjects at issue, Hebrew and Yiddish and Ancient Greek languages, on the Internet is a joke. A liberal arts college that cuts core courses (like Ancient Greek) in favor of business courses is not one that someone wanting a liberal arts curriculum is going to find appealing. I don’t have a problem regarding cutting second-rate PhD graduate programs whose students have no chance ever of getting jobs, but many such programs exist for the purpose of making money (full paying MA students - who often hope to transfer to first-rate university programs) and/or getting cheap faculty for undergraduate courses (TA’s).
Yale already offers online classes - many are first rate, especially in the English department, but I think those kinds of things are better suited to adults who have turned to those courses out of genuine interest than to college-age students who already have enough distractions in actual physical classrooms on their personal computers.</p>
<p>I find it silly to mention Williams dropping its no loan policy. The policy was only two years old and certainly not central to the school’s mission. Those with the most need will still be no loan.</p>
<p>I just am responding to what I read here in the link in Post #7. Thanks for providing it. </p>
<p>In the link, they acknowledge keen interest of students in Theater, campus-wide, always great to hear. </p>
<p>To me, it sounds as though their MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree in Theater was inhibiting participation by undergraduates in department-sponsored productions. If a freshman/sophomore undergrad auditions against a grad student, it’s stiff competition to get cast. Students learn more about theater by being in shows, even simpler ones, than by seeing beautiful versions of stage productions. That’s available in nearby Boston, anyway. </p>
<p>I know there were many levels of theater on the campus, but this expressed recommitment to undergraduates appears to be their priority now. </p>
<p>I also got the sense that too much money was pouring into high-budget stage productions. Does anyone know? Did they tend towards glossy productions? If so, not necessary for education in Theater at this stage of development. Brandeis is wiser to pare back stage production budgets, IMO, and focus on technique in acting, directing, writing for theater, integrated within a liberal arts B.A. for undergraduates. It was good to have an alternative to pre-professional theater work at the M.F.A. level outside of NYC, but still, something has to go. I guess.</p>
<p>FYI, the drop in applications figure has been mis-reported. That drop (similar drops for Williams, Middlebury etc.) occured in the fall of 2009. In fact, according to a Boston Business Journal report, applications for the fall of 2010 have rebounded. The article also notes that the recovery of the stock market has significantly benefited Brandeis’s endowmnent. Financially, Brandeis has taken steps to turn things around while preserving its core academic and financial aid commitments. See: [Brandeis</a> downgraded, operating deficits cited - Boston Business Journal:](<a href=“http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2010/02/22/daily5.html]Brandeis”>http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2010/02/22/daily5.html)</p>
<p>Just a FYI: Middlebury’s apps are up 16% and are at record levels.</p>
<p>Glad to see the rebound in applications at Middlebury as well after being down 12% last fall (Williams down 20% last year): see [Private</a> Colleges See Applications Decline as Economy Crumbles|The Minaret](<a href=“Namecheap Education Program: Free Domains for Students”>Namecheap Education Program: Free Domains for Students)</p>
<p>to Mamenyu’s point –
yes, but the Hebrew, Yiddish, Jewish Studies, etc. departments at Brandeis are (relatively) very well funded and large - you have to cut where the fat is. I don’t think they’re planning on doing away with these departments, just reducing some support.</p>