Hi, Rick,
I don't think the answer is that simple. I went to a small, private,
liberal arts college from 1970 through 1974 and it cost my father about
$3,000 per year for room, board, and tuition. Now it would cost about
$42,000, about a 14-fold increase. Inflation, which I'm guessing has been
about three-fold since then, obviously only accounts for a small part of
that, and since it is a private school, declining government subsidies are
not the reason. The professors haven't all become millionaires. The
campus hasn't been plated with gold. The students aren't getting an
education that is ten times better than what I got. This is a general
trend, not just a phenomenon of my alma mater, and I really do want to know
what the hell is going on. My father had a bachelor's degree, and my
annual college costs were about on fifth of his annual income. I have a
PhD and the costs for my kids would be well over half of my annual income.
Can someone out there tell my why higher education is becoming something
only for the rich?
Martin M. Meiss
2011/12/28 Rick Lindroth <[email protected]>
> The answer is simple and (nearly) universal: states' support for higher
> education has declined precipitously over recent decades, especially in
> recent years. In essence, states are transfering the financial burden of
> higher education from the general public to individuals (students and
> parents).
>
> Although tuition increases have been high, they cannot close the gap;
> hence the fiscal peril that public research institutions now find
> themselves in.
> _______________________________________________
> Richard L. Lindroth, Ph.D.
> Professor of Ecology, Associate Dean for Research, and
> Associate Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station
> University of Wisconsin-Madison
> Madison, WI 53706 U.S.A.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-
> > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Cherubini
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 6:29 PM
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] UC-Berkeley and other 'public Iv ies'in fiscal
> peril
> >
> > > The University of California at Berkeley subsists now in
> > > perpetual austerity. Star faculty take mandatory furloughs.
> > > Classes grow perceptibly larger each year. Roofs leak;
> > > e-mail crashes. One employee mows the entire campus.
> > > Wastebaskets are emptied once a week. Some
> > > professors lack telephones.
> >
> > If all of the above is true, then can someone please
> > explain why for 20+ years the annual increase in the
> > cost of college tuition has far outpaced the consumer
> > price index, heath care, energy costs, etc.
> >
> > http://www.nas.org/polArticles.cfm?doc_id=1450
> > http://tinyurl.com/6xq6hv
> >
> > Paul Cherubini
> > El Dorado, Calif.
>
