In the discourse about the cost of college in the United States, the voices that are most curiously silent are administrators & faculty.
Students scream about cost. Parents scream about the cost.
Bystanders scream about #studentloan forgiveness.
See evidence here: https://lnkd.in/esHX2nJe
But admin & #faculty largely stay silent.
Why?
Fear.
Be it a public or private uni; we can no longer count on public sources of support. Government funding has been in a steep decline for decades.
We are afraid of further cuts.
What have uni's done to cope?
We have turned to enrollment-driven revenue models.
We focus on visible activities, such as sports, facilities, & student services & less on the less visible scholarly activities, such as the classroom or research, to help students differentiate among schools.
What has that caused?
A bloated out of control cost structure at US unis.
Uni's subsidize athletics, build dorms, offer workout facilities, & more - to attract student attention.
Unis also offer more support services to students - to ensure that the sometimes well-prepared, but sometimes not well-prepared - can survive a four to the five-year college experience.
By doing so, they secure enrollment dollars.
Yet.
Athletics, facilities, & services are not one-time costs - they require recurring investments to support.
Because the cost of "wrap-around" to the learning experience has escalated, & the government has divested from higher education, the costs to students have skyrocketed - at a pace far greater than inflation.
What are we afraid of?
I get the fear of admin.
They are afraid of losing (a) funding agencies' support, speeding the death spiral of some uni's & programs (b) parents' & communities' interest, leading to lower donations or political support; & (c) students, who might stop coming - particularly - when a vocational degree leads to more money, faster, in some professions.
I don't get the fear of faculty.
Our role is to be the conscience of uni's & society.
Faculty need to speak out more - on lowering costs to students.
We must be attentive to the cost structure of uni's & lobby to fix it. Either through securing public funding for students or ending the escalation of athletics/building/services that push costs up.
I am not calling athletics evil, nor am I claiming athletics departments are badling managed - the staff work hard & have been asked to climb mountains.
I am calling for faculty to pay attention & to take a role in uni governance - & when doing so - pay attention to lowering the need for student loans to earn a degree.
I am calling for faculty to lobby public & private agencies to fund uni's - & in doing so - draw awareness to the public goods we create - by educating kids.
If we don't, I worry we will price higher ed out of the reach of the average kid - and that hurts us all - in the long game.
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