College Losing Pricing Power

“Everyone today knows someone who went to college and ended up with a career that didn’t justify the cost. They see college as a more risky investment.”

After reading this statement and participating in all of our in-depth conversations in class elaborating on the cost of an education and its worth in the long run, how do you perceive this statement? Most students do pick academic paths that lead to great paychecks in order to justify the cost of college presently. Being a Macaulay student, have you taken the same precautions as regular, paying students. Meaning, have you hypothetically picked a career that will “justify the cost” of college even though we don’t pay for our tuition.

Who Can Still Afford State U?

More and more American colleges are looking for students out of the country to reach their admission quota for the year. Do you think that this could be a problematic problem in the future in terms of allocating funds towards American students or foreign students?

Public School, Big Tab

“The cost of attending public colleges is rising faster than the cost of private colleges, as states reduce funding.” In the past two years, our campus has been the source of a lot of controversy in terms of protests and rallies because of the increasing CUNY tuition. Many public colleges around the country have already increased their tuition by above 100%. If such an occurrence happened to CUNY within the next five years, what do you believe would be the student implications and reactions? Would enrollment decline despite the fact that CUNY would still be more affordable than state-run universities?

A Shift From Need to Merit

With the ever-increasing shift of scholarships being awarded from need to merit, inevitable changes will occur in the country. Perhaps, most noticeably, competition between students in the top 10% of their class will increase, and the need for better education will be more pertinent than ever. Do you perceive this to be a step back or a step forward for our country considering that we are not one of the powerhouses in any academic field around the world?

How Administrative Spending Boosts College Costs

“Nonclassroom costs at U.S. colleges are growing faster than instructional costs, contributing to rising tuition.” In noticing some of the numbers, colleges with a lower tuition rate would have higher administrative spending per student than colleges with a tuition above $40,000. For example, the University of Central Florida with a tuition rate of $14,519 per student has a $1,775 administrative spending per student. The University of Illinois at Chicago with a tuition rate of $48,289 per student has a $1,438 administrative spending per student. Why do you perceive this to be the case?

Moody’s Report Calls into Question all Traditional University Revenue Sources By Kevin Kiley  

“What’s new is that in a collective way, the model that we in higher education have been employing since the 1960s is really being called into question by external factors. And it’s that collectiveness that created a new sense of urgency.” “The report notes that a stable outlook would require improved pricing power, a decrease in the unemployment rate, improvements in the housing market and several tears of strong stock market returns, none of which seem likely in the near term.”

With these two quite precarious statements of the fiscal statement of our economy and its ties to our country’s education, do you believe that the quality higher education is doomed to decrease? Or do you believe that the implementation of online courses and “outcome based funding” to be its saving graces?

Bowen Sent From Professor Hainline

“The ‘cost disease’ refers to a university’s inability to implement efficiency measures to maintain productivity…” This deadly disease, whether one believes it or not, has spread all over the country. Do you believe that cutting funding to research institutions is the best cure to this problem? If not, provide an alternative method, whether it be one we discussed in class already or one you believe could work immensely.

The Economic Impact of Higher Education in New York State By Thomas P. DiNapoli

New York is one of the leading, if not the leading, states in this country in terms of Higher Education. Funds have been allocated to the state for education and employment has hardly decreased despite the recession. Do you believe the state will always receive such largess from the federal government? If yes, state your reasons, whether you believe its because the state provides a great amount of employment or other reasons. If no, elaborate why, and what do you think the implications of a decrease in federal funds for New York State could do to the country?

 

Study Casts Doubt on Idea that Spending More Per Student Leads to Better Educational Outcomes By Scott Jashcik

“Research… finds that there may be a minimal relationship between what colleges spend on education and the quality of the education students receive.” If you knew this while you were applying to college, would you have changed your college choices? Also, how does this knowledge affect how you perceive the chart shown in the “How Administrative Spending Boosts College Costs” article?

Is it really the next bubble? By Lexington

Higher education is a worse bubble than the housing bubble because “people make a mistake in taking on an education loan, they’re legally much more difficult to get out of than housing loans… If you borrowed money and went to a college where the education didn’t create any value, that is potentially a really bad mistake.”

There was an argument made in class a few weeks ago that you cannot succeed in life without accumulating some debt. Being in Macaulay, we do not need to take out education loans, or loans of any sort really, so our perception of the current fiscal situation can be a bit askew. But knowing that to further succeed in higher education can lead to being stuck in a bubble, has your career path changed? Have you decided to solely have a BA or to proceed further to attain a doctorate due to your perception of your odds in this “fiscal crisis?”

Dealing with the Future Now By Alan E. Guskin and Mary B. Marcy

Do you believe that these transformative actions, which ultimately were made to accommodate “the services and functions that are essential and thus redesigning them around new technologies to both reduce costs and improve services” are feasible? Significantly restructuring America’s colleges and universities can seem a bit adventurous. If you believe that it is feasible, give an approximate timeline for when you think all of this can be achieved. If no, what do you believe should colleges do to accommodate these rough times?

Declining By Degrees: Higher Education at Risk By: David L. Kirp

This whole document focused on higher education acting as the perfect marketing ground. One of the arguments that we had during our last class was on the role of the President of a University. With this article in mind, do you now believe that a university president should come from the advertising/marketing field or should the education field be completely separate from the world of business?

Financing Higher Education by D. Bruce Johnstone

“High Tuition does not guarantee high aid.” This has been the running fact in all of the articles assigned to us. Do you believe, because of the possibility of federal funds being slashed down exponentially in the coming years, that higher education will become an elitist institution as opposed to its original purpose of supplying knowledge to the masses? All of these articles, especially Johnstone’s, have been foreshadowing a possible redemption or a fatal decline pending on what the university invests in. What do you believe to be the ultimate fate of higher education?