7 ms·

I don't have an answer either. I do think they should make student loans bankrupt-able. It's time. Oh yea, and put a hiring freeze/salary cap on all administ

I don't have an answer either. I do think they should make student loans bankrupt-able. It's time. Oh yea, and put a hiring freeze/salary cap on all administrative personnel for any school that accepts federal loans. The best teachers I had were at community colleges, and usually had summer jobs. I never figured out what most of the administration did besides irritate the better teachers.

tedivm 9y ago
Administration costs have risen quite a bit, and are even used as political gifts. Mitch Daniels, former governor of Indiana, stacked Purdue's board with his contributors and supports and when he left the governor position they made him president of Purdue. The detachment from the administration of schools and the actual education portion is a big issue.
- kevin_thibedeau 9y ago
  They also gold plate all of their new facilities. Not enough to have a normal hand dryer. Gotta have it covered in custom graphics.
  - pixl97 9y ago
    > Gotta have it covered in custom graphics. Unless they are going out of their way to spend a lot of money, the cost of those graphics is actually pretty cheap in comparison to the entire device. It's probably things like marble floors where the cost between one material choice can be 3x-10x the cost of another that would increase costs.
kcdev 9y ago
Bankrupt-able student loans will not help the problem. The universities who are taking advantage of the easily available money from the government will still get paid. During bankruptcy, the loan write down hurts the lender. In this case it's us taxpayers. The real answer is to cut what's funded by the government, make the rest of the financing come from the universities themselves, AND make it bankrupt-able. Then as demand declines and universities share the hit for each bankruptcy, universities will lower prices to something more reasonable to increase supply.
- imjustsaying 9y ago
  >The real answer is to cut what's funded by the government Guaranteed downvotes
  - weirdstuff 9y ago
    No worries, I'll upvote it. ;) I think he/she is right-ish about the supply-demand calculus on this; looking at history, overextended credit/margins often lead to nasty bubbles because of the distortion effects.
- bbcbasic 9y ago
  And they'll all offer coding bootcamps, for max ROI, and nothing else. Future doctors can be imported.
  - matt_wulfeck 9y ago
    How is that worse than producing an overabundance of literature majors that have very little ROI?
    - bbcbasic 9y ago
      It means the education system is design to pump out workers rather than thinkers. Taking this to the logical conclusion, why teach science, history or sport in high schools? Low ROI. Stuff that! Why not make the coding bootcamp start at kindergarten. And why not let parents pay for such schools so they can choose the best ROI for their kid.
      - AstralStorm 9y ago
        The latter point is actually good, but it is not just about coding bootcamp. Many great athletes were also discovered very early, musicians etc. Generally it is about playing to the strengths. Customized education.
      - lmm 9y ago
ggchappell 9y ago
> I never figured out what most of the administration did besides irritate the better teachers. As a teacher who has experienced that irritation, I hear you. But I also know that multitudes of administrators are a necessity in the modern world. There are a number of reasons for this; one of the biggest is regulatory burden. Pick your favorite downtrodden group. Some politician makes a speech about how Group X has gotten the shaft for too long; he says he wants to pass a law that says no federal money is going to go to a university that hires people from Group X at a lower rate than other groups. Everyone says, "Yay, politician." And the law is passed. Now, I am not (repeat: NOT) arguing against such policies. If thoughtfully enacted they can be beneficial. But they also come at a cost. And much of that cost is administrative. Basically, this politician has just invented a new form to fill out. Before receiving federal $$$, we have to fill out this form that describes our good-faith efforts to hire qualified people from Group X. Now, someone has to fill out that form. They have to keep the necessary records. They have to tell their coworkers what they need to do to be in compliance. They have to get periodic training, because government requirements change. That person needs office space and equipment. They need a parking space, and their trash needs to be emptied, and their restroom needs to be cleaned and stocked, and their paycheck needs to be deposited, and someone needs to supervise them. And none of this is free. The modern world comes with a huge number of policies like this. "Let's prevent hard-working Americans' money from being misspent. I'm going to require that any scientist who receives a government grant has to account for his time, so we know where the money is going." Fine. And every university hires someone for a new administrative position. "Every new construction project must conform to stricter safety requirements." Great idea. Another hire. And again, none of this is free. > Oh yea, and put a hiring freeze/salary cap on all administrative personnel for any school that accepts federal loans. Ah, but the reason the administrative personnel are necessary in the first place is to ensure that the organization meets the qualifications to accept federal money. So the idea is, I'm afraid, completely impractical.
- pixl97 9y ago
  But they also come at a cost. And much of that cost is administrative. T.I.N.S.T.A.F.R There is no such thing as free regulation. Some people tend to forget that when they say "We should make a law that says..."

tedivm 9y ago

Administration costs have risen quite a bit, and are even used as political gifts. Mitch Daniels, former governor of Indiana, stacked Purdue's board with his contributors and supports and when he left the governor position they made him president of Purdue. The detachment from the administration of schools and the actual education portion is a big issue.

kevin_thibedeau 9y ago
They also gold plate all of their new facilities. Not enough to have a normal hand dryer. Gotta have it covered in custom graphics.
- pixl97 9y ago
  > Gotta have it covered in custom graphics. Unless they are going out of their way to spend a lot of money, the cost of those graphics is actually pretty cheap in comparison to the entire device. It's probably things like marble floors where the cost between one material choice can be 3x-10x the cost of another that would increase costs.

kcdev 9y ago

Bankrupt-able student loans will not help the problem. The universities who are taking advantage of the easily available money from the government will still get paid. During bankruptcy, the loan write down hurts the lender. In this case it's us taxpayers. The real answer is to cut what's funded by the government, make the rest of the financing come from the universities themselves, AND make it bankrupt-able. Then as demand declines and universities share the hit for each bankruptcy, universities will lower prices to something more reasonable to increase supply.

imjustsaying 9y ago
>The real answer is to cut what's funded by the government Guaranteed downvotes
- weirdstuff 9y ago
  No worries, I'll upvote it. ;) I think he/she is right-ish about the supply-demand calculus on this; looking at history, overextended credit/margins often lead to nasty bubbles because of the distortion effects.
bbcbasic 9y ago
And they'll all offer coding bootcamps, for max ROI, and nothing else. Future doctors can be imported.
- matt_wulfeck 9y ago
  How is that worse than producing an overabundance of literature majors that have very little ROI?
  - bbcbasic 9y ago
    It means the education system is design to pump out workers rather than thinkers. Taking this to the logical conclusion, why teach science, history or sport in high schools? Low ROI. Stuff that! Why not make the coding bootcamp start at kindergarten. And why not let parents pay for such schools so they can choose the best ROI for their kid.
    - AstralStorm 9y ago
      The latter point is actually good, but it is not just about coding bootcamp. Many great athletes were also discovered very early, musicians etc. Generally it is about playing to the strengths. Customized education.
    - lmm 9y ago

ggchappell 9y ago

> I never figured out what most of the administration did besides irritate the better teachers. As a teacher who has experienced that irritation, I hear you. But I also know that multitudes of administrators are a necessity in the modern world. There are a number of reasons for this; one of the biggest is regulatory burden. Pick your favorite downtrodden group. Some politician makes a speech about how Group X has gotten the shaft for too long; he says he wants to pass a law that says no federal money is going to go to a university that hires people from Group X at a lower rate than other groups. Everyone says, "Yay, politician." And the law is passed. Now, I am not (repeat: NOT) arguing against such policies. If thoughtfully enacted they can be beneficial. But they also come at a cost. And much of that cost is administrative. Basically, this politician has just invented a new form to fill out. Before receiving federal $$$, we have to fill out this form that describes our good-faith efforts to hire qualified people from Group X. Now, someone has to fill out that form. They have to keep the necessary records. They have to tell their coworkers what they need to do to be in compliance. They have to get periodic training, because government requirements change. That person needs office space and equipment. They need a parking space, and their trash needs to be emptied, and their restroom needs to be cleaned and stocked, and their paycheck needs to be deposited, and someone needs to supervise them. And none of this is free. The modern world comes with a huge number of policies like this. "Let's prevent hard-working Americans' money from being misspent. I'm going to require that any scientist who receives a government grant has to account for his time, so we know where the money is going." Fine. And every university hires someone for a new administrative position. "Every new construction project must conform to stricter safety requirements." Great idea. Another hire. And again, none of this is free. > Oh yea, and put a hiring freeze/salary cap on all administrative personnel for any school that accepts federal loans. Ah, but the reason the administrative personnel are necessary in the first place is to ensure that the organization meets the qualifications to accept federal money. So the idea is, I'm afraid, completely impractical.

pixl97 9y ago
But they also come at a cost. And much of that cost is administrative. T.I.N.S.T.A.F.R There is no such thing as free regulation. Some people tend to forget that when they say "We should make a law that says..."