Newspaper Report On Skyrocketing Tuition Fails to Notice the Problem is Caused by Overspending
The rising cost of college - even before the recession - threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to an annual report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Over all, published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007, adjusted for inflation, the study found, while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.
“If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won’t have an affordable system of higher education,” said Patrick Callan, president of the center, a nonpartisan organization that promotes access to higher education.
Don’t get me wrong, this is an huge problem. However it’s one that is easy to fix provided that we have the will. The great majority of schools are state owned and operated. The purpose of that was to make it affordable for young people to get an education. Unfortunately over time the real purpose of higher education has changed. Rather than being there for the benefit of young people they are there to give cushy jobs to the faculty and administration of these institutions.
There’s no other explanation for it. Tuition has quadrupled over the last twenty five years. It seems that every year that the schools are demanding more money from the taxpayers as well as the alumni but it’s never enough.
The reason why the Universities are taking in so much money is because they choose to spend more and more money every year.
Two years ago the state of North Dakota gave the higher education system 20% more money. My alma mater took this money, raised tuition anyway and highlighted their spending spree by pretty much doubling the President’s salary. The extra money also encouraged them to build a million dollar home, although a private citizen did take over the responsibility of paying for that gem.
This year the Governor wants to raise spending by $170 million. That will raise spending on higher education by 64% over the last two budget. Governor Hoeven says with this kind of money the schools should be able to limit tuition increases to the rate of inflation for the next couple years.
The problem with high tuition is simply that colleges spend too much. They need to quit being so greedy. They are state agencies so yes, it is our business how much our employees make. Instructors should make a reasonable amount of money and they should teach a reasonable number of hours a week.
