Over the years, American universities and colleges have slowly drifted away from their central concerns, teaching and learning. This shift is perhaps best seen in the increased number of administrators … Continue reading “Administrative Bloat Harms Teaching and Learning”
The most striking fact about American colleges and universities over the last fifty years is how rapidly the cost of attending has risen. A good perspective on the college cost … Continue reading “Explaining the High Cost of College”
“I don’t understand how a state as red as Oklahoma can have such an obsessively woke state university with so few repercussions,” law professor and New York Post columnist Glenn … Continue reading “Oklahoma University Thumbs its Nose at Oklahomans — With ‘So Few Repercussions’”
The coronavirus pandemic may be nearing its end, but that does not mean a return to normal in all cases. Even before the virus pushed classes out of the physical … Continue reading “States Need to Take the Lead in Controlling College Costs”
Public higher education was once America’s great enabler, permitting young people from lower-class backgrounds to attend college for very little money and to rise as far as their abilities and … Continue reading “Why Don’t Governing Boards Rein in College Costs?”
TANSTAAFL. There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. That’s the pithy way that economists convey the idea that there are always costs associated with the goods and services … Continue reading “New Study Analyzes the High Cost of College”
Now that President Biden has been sworn in as the 46th president, he wants to hit the ground running and attend to urgent priorities. One of his first moves was … Continue reading “Biden Could Shake Up Higher Ed—If He Doesn’t Endorse the Status Quo”
College tuition increases across the country have shown no sign of slowing down. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the sticker price of tuition (before discounts and student … Continue reading “Did You Know? The Ever-Increasing Sticker Price of College Tuition”
Russell Kirk isn’t known as a policy wonk. The Great Books, not the mathematical or statistical models of economic technicians, were his organon of choice. He devoted essays to broad, … Continue reading “Russell Kirk on Higher Education”
Many college leaders speak as though the upward cost spiral is permanent and unavoidable. From experience, I can say that’s not true.
Tuition increases at American colleges began in earnest in the 1960s and ’70s, when I was a mathematics professor and later dean at C.W. Post College. The first changes driving the increases were the reductions in teaching loads.