College and university spending across the nation continues to exceed reasonable expectations. And North Carolina institutions are no exception. In the Tar Heel State and beyond, campuses continue to expand, … Continue reading “How Much Do North Carolina’s Universities Spend?”
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”
Testifying before the U.S. Senate in 2013, University of Wisconsin professor Sara Goldrick-Rab described college campuses as “glorified summer camps.” She said administrators were “engaging in an arms race to … Continue reading “Bigger’s Better? In Higher Ed’s Amenities Arms Race, Bigger’s Just Bigger!”
All is not well on higher education’s financial front. At many colleges, tuition prices have reached record highs, enrollment is stagnant, revenues have flattened or declined, budgets are constricted, and … Continue reading “Hot Tubs and Luxury Dorms and Climbing Walls, Oh, My!”
College officials should be praised when they curtail wasteful spending, but when they cut the budget by eliminating core educational programs, they deserve public scorn. That scorn should be heightened … Continue reading “A College Scrimps on Citizenship Education While it “Invests” in Luxury”
About to retire, Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn, M.D., has just released his 107-page 2014 Wastebook, a tabloid-type listing of over a hundred wasteful government-funded projects. Coburn continues the tradition of the late William Proxmire, the Wisconsin senator who, more modestly, chose just one or two “Golden Fleeces” each year.
What’s to be done about “low-productivity” degree programs?
Does the federal Clery Act actually make campuses safer?
North Carolina’s latest higher education budget has some good features, but could be better.
Despite the economy, the University of North Carolina still has plenty of construction projects going forth.