Administrators Ate My Tuition • Hacker News Board

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#11

Post by steve-howard » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 6:26 AM UTC

rkischuk wrote: post #7

It's true that it's not just the administrators. It's the budgets and programs that come with them. I went to Georgia Tech. The last time I heard a report, Georgia Tech had 3 staff members dedicated to the fraternity system. 1 for fraternities, 1 for sororities, and one for minority organizations that don't want to be in the mainstream system. Schools should have zero staff dedicated to the "greek" system. Greek lett…

I don't know if there are many schools like this, but the Greek houses at Northwestern are all on campus property. As I understand it, the frats do not pay rent, but members still pay rent which the frat then keeps. So my on-campus living cost per year is $8k, and theirs is essentially $0. I love seeing my money go to things that have no relation to me.

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#12

Post by nazgulnarsil » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 7:16 AM UTC

Rising demand and inelastic supply leads to rising prices. This is a good thing. The price premium the wealthy are willing to pay allows schools to massively subsidize their brain drain of the brightest students. If you get into stanford and your parents make less than 60k, you don't pay tuition at all. The alternative is rationing which leaves just as many students out in the cold but doesnt allow the school to capture extra rents.

So the other issue is inelastic supply. This is partially down to the regulatory environment, but that isn't the whole picture. I haven't done enough research to understand why there aren't more schools starting up. I suspect it's an accreditation barrier to entry issue.

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#13

Post by yardie » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 8:01 AM UTC

steve-howard wrote: post #11

rkischuk wrote: post #7

It's true that it's not just the administrators. It's the budgets and programs that come with them. I went to Georgia Tech. The last time I heard a report, Georgia Tech had 3 staff members dedicated to the fraternity system. 1 for fraternities, 1 for sororities, and one for minority organizations that don't want to be in the mainstream system. Schools should have zero staff dedicated to the "greek" system. Greek lett…

I don't know if there are many schools like this, but the Greek houses at Northwestern are all on campus property. As I understand it, the frats do not pay rent, but members still pay rent which the frat then keeps. So my on-campus living cost per year is $8k, and theirs is essentially $0. I love seeing my money go to things that have no relation to me.

This must be unique to Northwestern. The housing prices at other universities is listed on the residential housing page. Greek housing was no different than anyone else and were a little more since the houses weren't as dense as a tower block.

The only way I can see the Greeks at Northwestern getting away with this is if they covered all the maintenance and all the utility charges. Considering that most of those houses are old and paid for NU wouldn't have to charge anything beyond that.

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#14

Post by americandesi333 » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 9:24 AM UTC

One thing I want to mention is that this article sheds a lot of negative light on adjunct faculty with no strong arguments of why.

From my university experience, I actually got a lot more out of faculty that were loaned from the business world because they were great at sharing practical relevent knowledge and examples.

Full-time faculty on the other hand lacked the knowledge of the outside practical world and were outdated in their teaching.

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#15

Post by bryanwb » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 10:27 AM UTC

Universities are more expensive because they have become educational country clubs/babysitting facilities, complete w/ professional sports teams, grandiose athletic facilities (often for those professional athletes), and n number of caretakers to plan students lives and cater to every one of their developmental needs.

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#16

Post by rjprins » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 10:39 AM UTC

jpadvo wrote: post #8

Beware -- this article makes a variety of claims that are not well supported. They are not even anecdotal, they're just out of thin air. Just one example from the first part: "Alas, today’s full-time professional administrators tend to view management as an end in and of itself. Most have no faculty experience, and even those who have spent time in a classroom or laboratory often hope to make administration their lif…

What the article misses, but what I think is going on is that education is a lot like health care:

The need is very high (everybody wants to get a good job!), while supply is limited to established institutions.

Partly because it's so hard to prove to the world that your education program is excellent, it's very difficult to disrupt the market. Also, having money correlates with success later. Only well off people can pay for the best universities, but the best universities produce the best students partly because those students were well off in the first place.

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#17

Post by Greedy_Fools » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 4:34 PM UTC

jpadvo wrote: post #8

Beware -- this article makes a variety of claims that are not well supported. They are not even anecdotal, they're just out of thin air. Just one example from the first part: "Alas, today’s full-time professional administrators tend to view management as an end in and of itself. Most have no faculty experience, and even those who have spent time in a classroom or laboratory often hope to make administration their lif…

Beware -- you're missing the point. Education is being drastically reduced because fools think It's about what they want and have forgotten what is good. Greedy fools are the problem and how it gets pointed out is irrelevant. You defend greedy fools. The discussion needs to be in the abstract, because fools hide behind concrete.

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#18

Post by Greedy_Fools » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 4:42 PM UTC

It's just about stealing. All they're doing is is old fashioned theivery. Just because they are allowed to, nobody can stop them. This country celebrates theivery, and is willing to sacrifice the minds of generations to honor and protect theives.

Re: Administrators Ate My Tuition

#19

Post by steve-howard » Tue, Aug 30, 2011, 7:43 PM UTC

yardie wrote: post #13

steve-howard wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if there are many schools like this, but the Greek houses at Northwestern are all on campus property. As I understand it, the frats do not pay rent, but members still pay rent which the frat then keeps. So my on-campus living cost per year is $8k, and theirs is essentially $0. I love seeing my money go to things that have no relation to me.

This must be unique to Northwestern. The housing prices at other universities is listed on the residential housing page. Greek housing was no different than anyone else and were a little more since the houses weren't as dense as a tower block. The only way I can see the Greeks at Northwestern getting away with this is if they covered all the maintenance and all the utility charges. Considering that most of those hous…

I believe that's the case, and that they actually have to pay for ADA upgrades on some buildings if they haven't already. It's still the same kind of housing that other students pay for.