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Count me skeptical. The two industries that a smalltown college supports are landlording and beer bars. Neither offer skilled employment for the townsfolk, and

Count me skeptical. The two industries that a smalltown college supports are landlording and beer bars. Neither offer skilled employment for the townsfolk, and there's an incentive for the local politicians to be "business-friendly", i.e. anti-student and pro-landowner. Not a good combination, especially if the landowner lives out of town.

maxerickson 8y ago
There's gonna be more educational staff than bartenders. By a fair bit.
- HarryHirsch 8y ago
  A good number of faculty at smalltown private colleges are adjuncts, with a salary of USD 600 per month and course, or thereabouts. They aren't going to spread the wealth. New faculty are often hired at non-tenure-track level, with a salary around 40-50 kUSD. Higher education is in crisis. The State University of New York is talking layoffs. They are reasonably sound, if they feel the stress, what is it like at the Catholic College of Our Lady of the High Desert in northeastern New Mexico? Many small colleges are going to go down in the next 5 - 10 years, and good riddance. They aren't providing a better education than the state school nearby, and they are more expensive. What's the point of Paine College when you can attend Augusta State University for less?
rtpg 8y ago
If you live in most college towns you should know it goes beyond that. A dumb example would be a video game store. College kids have a lot of time and unlike most old people might want to pick up some games. Sure, there’s Amazon but second hand stuff is cheaper. On a different level, you have stuff like auto repair shops, grocery stores, even gas stations that get benefits from a student population in an area. We all gotta eat after all. Stuff like parks can get use as well And if even 1% stay and start a business in the area afterwards that’s still something that likely wouldn’t exist otherwise because people tend to start businesses wherever they are. There is a bit of a risk of simply feeding the students into the nearest large city but even then you’re looking at 4 years of student loan money spent on various consumables in the area. The biggest worry is indeed for real estate pricing.... which is why it seems very reasonable to force schools to build appropriate housing for their students instead of just relying on local stock.

maxerickson 8y ago

There's gonna be more educational staff than bartenders. By a fair bit.

HarryHirsch 8y ago
A good number of faculty at smalltown private colleges are adjuncts, with a salary of USD 600 per month and course, or thereabouts. They aren't going to spread the wealth. New faculty are often hired at non-tenure-track level, with a salary around 40-50 kUSD. Higher education is in crisis. The State University of New York is talking layoffs. They are reasonably sound, if they feel the stress, what is it like at the Catholic College of Our Lady of the High Desert in northeastern New Mexico? Many small colleges are going to go down in the next 5 - 10 years, and good riddance. They aren't providing a better education than the state school nearby, and they are more expensive. What's the point of Paine College when you can attend Augusta State University for less?

rtpg 8y ago

If you live in most college towns you should know it goes beyond that. A dumb example would be a video game store. College kids have a lot of time and unlike most old people might want to pick up some games. Sure, there’s Amazon but second hand stuff is cheaper. On a different level, you have stuff like auto repair shops, grocery stores, even gas stations that get benefits from a student population in an area. We all gotta eat after all. Stuff like parks can get use as well And if even 1% stay and start a business in the area afterwards that’s still something that likely wouldn’t exist otherwise because people tend to start businesses wherever they are. There is a bit of a risk of simply feeding the students into the nearest large city but even then you’re looking at 4 years of student loan money spent on various consumables in the area. The biggest worry is indeed for real estate pricing.... which is why it seems very reasonable to force schools to build appropriate housing for their students instead of just relying on local stock.