Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog debated the rising cost of college tuition in response to a new survey that found colleges are worried about affordability. The survey found 51 percent of campuses faced with decreasing state and federal aid will raise tuition to make ends meet. Here is a sampling of reader comments:
Lee: The truth is, most four-year degree programs could eliminate one full year of useless "core" classes and electives. But those are a gravy train for colleges, as they charge full tuition and then staff them with graduate assistants or part-time instructors. Even looking at out-of-state tuition, which should be unsubsidized, tuition has exceeded the inflation rate by a factor of five.
Prof: I think the most expensive item in college budgets is personnel costs for mid-level administrators that just proliferate as the years go on. Faculty "lines" may disappear, so that departments suddenly aren't teaching a certain area because a key faculty member retired or resigned and isn't being replaced. Cheaper adjuncts replace expensive tenure-track lines. But those assistant vice presidents and vice provosts and directors just keep multiplying. New offices keep on being created, with new buzz words.
Bub: They spend too much on facilities. Look at how many empty classrooms are on campus at any one time. It's easy to raise money and put someone's name on a building and then use that shiny new building to recruit students — all while increasing facility operation and maintenance costs that add no value to education. My school is building a new facility for MBAs and leaving the old facility for undergraduates. That, despite the fact they had empty classrooms almost all times of the day when I was there, and there were twice as many students in the business school.
Meritocracy: The problem is that the system is flooded with "free" or low-cost money, and colleges are gorging themselves. None want to be left behind in the race for the cash. This is a bubble every bit as bad as the housing bubble, and it, too, will pop. And it won't be pretty.
Raja: Quit approaching higher education solely like a business. A quality higher education costs money, and states and taxpayers should support that if we want a higher education system that is still one of the best in the world. If we want a second-rate higher education system, then online courses and professor/teacher cuts are the way to go. If you have to cut costs somewhere, don't cut professors teaching or the number of classrooms; those are higher ed's core bread-and-butter items and should be the last to be cut. Cut other things first.
Ronin: The truth is, higher education does not have to be extremely expensive. Online programs will be more common in traditional public colleges, which will reduce the need for as many buildings and staff. College is a business model, just like any other company or corporation in America. They will charge as much as the customer will pay, and when they surpass that point, demand will go down, as will the price.
David: It doesn't matter how much people complain, the price will always go up until people stop paying it.