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Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

quillette.com

11–20 of 372 posts

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#11

This is... strange. The issue of a price would seem to me to be an issue of supply and demand. Yet, this article talks about a weirdly tangential topic. This article seems to put forward the idea that the administration of colleges has become bloated and this has led to higher fees. But that's simply not the causal chain. No one in any administration is thinking "better put that tuition up, and accept the loss in can…

Quite a claim you conclude with. Can you elaborate?

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet education costs were exponentially lower until about 1-2 decades ago where they exploded. Despite demand being ridiculously high even in the past.

Reduced state funding is a significant component of rapidly rising higher ed costs in the US. https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-hig...

[deleted]

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#13

This is... strange. The issue of a price would seem to me to be an issue of supply and demand. Yet, this article talks about a weirdly tangential topic. This article seems to put forward the idea that the administration of colleges has become bloated and this has led to higher fees. But that's simply not the causal chain. No one in any administration is thinking "better put that tuition up, and accept the loss in can…

> But none of this has anything to do with Quillette's racist agenda.

So why bring it up?

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#14

This is... strange. The issue of a price would seem to me to be an issue of supply and demand. Yet, this article talks about a weirdly tangential topic. This article seems to put forward the idea that the administration of colleges has become bloated and this has led to higher fees. But that's simply not the causal chain. No one in any administration is thinking "better put that tuition up, and accept the loss in can…

The problem is the bid/ask spread. Ultimately everyone would prefer cheaper education with the exception of college administrators.

The last 40 years has seen interest rates steadily fall, allowing students to pay the cost of education further in the future. This in turn allowed students to bid more for education that they otherwise would have paid less for.

If interest rates and inflation reverse their long term course, then there is no reason to believe that students will be able to afford their previous rates.

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#15

Imo it is the bloated general education requirements, squeezing as much money from students as possible. It should only take 2 years to earn a bachelor’s. I believe if these classes were optional, they would not survive in the curriculum. University should not be in the business of propping up classes that no one wants, or professors who don’t have classes to teach.

> It should only take 2 years to earn a bachelor’s Only if you assume that the purpose of a bachelor's is to provide job training in one specific profession. Not so much if you believe in the value of a well-rounded education, for people who are likely to change careers multiple times, maybe also be civic leaders, etc. I'm not saying you're wrong, but the debate between these two visions has been going on for centuri…

Good thing 2 year associates and vocational training is a thing. Is the OP complaining that bachelors are not those?

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#16

Imo it is the bloated general education requirements, squeezing as much money from students as possible. It should only take 2 years to earn a bachelor’s. I believe if these classes were optional, they would not survive in the curriculum. University should not be in the business of propping up classes that no one wants, or professors who don’t have classes to teach.

> It should only take 2 years to earn a bachelor’s Only if you assume that the purpose of a bachelor's is to provide job training in one specific profession. Not so much if you believe in the value of a well-rounded education, for people who are likely to change careers multiple times, maybe also be civic leaders, etc. I'm not saying you're wrong, but the debate between these two visions has been going on for centuri…

I thought elementary/middle/high school was for general purpose and moral education while college was for specialization. I guess you could argue that the amount of general purpose knowledge you need nowadays has increased but I agree with OP that ~50% of your college education being unrelated to your specialization seems unnecessary.

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#17
States cut funding to public schools, costs rise to accommodate those cuts which spills over into every part of the education market. At the same time schools increase spending on non-academic upgrades to appeal to prospective students bringing higher costs (and more administrators). I think that may account for the bulk of the increases.

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#19

Imo it is the bloated general education requirements, squeezing as much money from students as possible. It should only take 2 years to earn a bachelor’s. I believe if these classes were optional, they would not survive in the curriculum. University should not be in the business of propping up classes that no one wants, or professors who don’t have classes to teach.

> It should only take 2 years to earn a bachelor’s Only if you assume that the purpose of a bachelor's is to provide job training in one specific profession. Not so much if you believe in the value of a well-rounded education, for people who are likely to change careers multiple times, maybe also be civic leaders, etc. I'm not saying you're wrong, but the debate between these two visions has been going on for centuri…

Somehow practically every country besides the US manages to give people a general education in secondary school, and reserves universities for deep study of one subject. Consequently, their bachelors degrees usually take less time.

Do you think university graduates in France, for example, are less “well-rounded” than those in the US?

Re: Bloated college administration is making education unaffordable

#20

Given that this is quillette one would think they would be hesitant to question the wise and steady hand of the free market. Surely the rationally-acting rational actors at all of these institutions are acting rationally in accordance with rationality? After all, we live in a time when any "entrepreneur" can affix his name to a suburban sprawl wasteland strip mall storefront, open a University, and get accredited by…

University education in the US is very far from a free market.

They’re kinda the worst of both worlds: massively subsidized by the state and federal governments, with very little government oversight.

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