By Free Republic | Created at 2024-12-08 15:45:55 | Updated at 2024-12-24 01:09:27
2 weeks ago
Should English Majors Pay Less?
James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | December 6, 2024 | Joe Pitts
Posted on 12/08/2024 7:39:35 AM PST by karpov
Institutions of higher education are bracing for a crunch, if they aren’t experiencing one already. Slowing population growth, mounting skepticism of academia, and various other factors have provoked college leaders—at least perceptive ones—to craft novel strategies to navigate these perilous waters. Universities will be increasingly competing for a shrinking pool of customers in the years to come. How these institutions differentiate themselves and win over students will determine their ability to survive in the 21st century.
Universities, like firms in any stagnating market, will need to find new revenue sources or cut costs. There is no other way out of this conundrum. As Beth Akers, an economist studying higher education, has argued, the looming crunch may actually benefit students: “Higher education, the golden child of the movement to advance social mobility, has rested on its laurels and failed to incorporate innovations that will better serve students and our nation.” Necessity is the mother of invention. Declining revenues coupled with fierce competition may be what universities need to slash waste and deliver economic results for students.
In light of such shifts, a growing share of institutions are weighing the adoption of differential tuition (DT) policies. Conceptually, the model is simple. Instead of charging a flat rate for tuition regardless of major area or degree program, universities charge tuition based on the instructional costs of particular areas of study. Mechanical engineering majors, for instance, would likely pay higher tuition than English majors at a university implementing DT.
Universities are adopting DT for several reasons. For one, paying at the program level reduces if not eliminates the cross-subsidization implicit in charging a flat rate for all programs. No longer would lower-cost degree recipients pay a “premium” that partially funds more expensive degree programs. You get what you pay for.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: college; collegetuition
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If you charge differential tuition by major, you should also charge different interest rates on student loans if repayment rates differ substantially by major.
1 posted on 12/08/2024 7:39:35 AM PST by karpov
To: karpov
Lastly, universities should not lose sight of their non-economic utility. The university is the nucleus of the modern Western world. It is so not because it has served as an engine for economic growth (though it has!) but because it has fostered free and open inquiry, pursuing truth no matter its political unpopularity. Despite its decrepit state, higher education remains our best hope of cultivating the artes liberales—the knowledge and habits of mind requisite for the formation of free people and a free society. Universities are more than glorified vocational schools.
This guy should tune into the 21st century so that he can educate himself and realize how much of a problem "education" has become. Vocational schools are far superior.
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