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Stanford is not a good proxy bc the students were well funded before the loans poured fuel on the fire. Loans help increase the cost of schools with lower soci

Stanford is not a good proxy bc the students were well funded before the loans poured fuel on the fire. Loans help increase the cost of schools with lower social economic status (middle class) schools like state schools. Loans allowed many schools to charge private costs for public education. Professor salaried have risen, cost structures are too high to support unloaned demand.

jdkee 7y ago
"Professor salaried[SIC] have risen,...." This is untrue. If anything, the rapidly growing pool of poorly paid adjuncts has lowered the median salary. Perhaps you could take a look at this book for a deeper understanding of the issue. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/16/herb-childress-discusses-his-new-book-adjunct-underclass https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/16/herb-childres...
- wtvanhest 7y ago
  This is one story. If you pull the financials of major public colleges, prof salaries per credit hour taught are increasing. No other metric matters. The cost has to come down, and that includes the cost of instruction etc.
  - chongli 7y ago
    No other metric matters That’s simply not true. The vast majority of the increase in cost is due to the explosive growth of non-teaching administrative staff. When wealthy donors earmark their gift for a new library or sports complex, it’s the students who end up paying for all of the staff to maintain the building and run the programs.
    - craftinator 7y ago
      Ding, +1. Schools spend their vast income on administrators, marketing, and marketing gimmicks, such as sports and very expensive new buildings. They are in competition with other schools to bring in more students and manage more students (thus bringing in more cash), so they optimize for that goal.
    - wtvanhest 7y ago
      I've looked at a bunch of school financials, and I am not really seeing the admin bloat that everyone quotes. That said, its not really the only metric that matters, but it does matter a lot. And it matters a lot more than all other metrics around cost because you can easily reduce those other metrics if they are truly bloat. Professor salaries cannot easily come down, and you cannot easily add more kids per class.
      - chongli 7y ago
        Schools don't need to bring professor salaries down. They just hire cheap adjuncts to teach a lot of classes. That greatly reduces their average cost per credit hour. Good professors pay for themselves by bringing in grant money.

jdkee 7y ago

"Professor salaried[SIC] have risen,...." This is untrue. If anything, the rapidly growing pool of poorly paid adjuncts has lowered the median salary. Perhaps you could take a look at this book for a deeper understanding of the issue. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/16/herb-childress-discusses-his-new-book-adjunct-underclass https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/16/herb-childres...

wtvanhest 7y ago
This is one story. If you pull the financials of major public colleges, prof salaries per credit hour taught are increasing. No other metric matters. The cost has to come down, and that includes the cost of instruction etc.
- chongli 7y ago
  No other metric matters That’s simply not true. The vast majority of the increase in cost is due to the explosive growth of non-teaching administrative staff. When wealthy donors earmark their gift for a new library or sports complex, it’s the students who end up paying for all of the staff to maintain the building and run the programs.
  - craftinator 7y ago
    Ding, +1. Schools spend their vast income on administrators, marketing, and marketing gimmicks, such as sports and very expensive new buildings. They are in competition with other schools to bring in more students and manage more students (thus bringing in more cash), so they optimize for that goal.
  - wtvanhest 7y ago
    I've looked at a bunch of school financials, and I am not really seeing the admin bloat that everyone quotes. That said, its not really the only metric that matters, but it does matter a lot. And it matters a lot more than all other metrics around cost because you can easily reduce those other metrics if they are truly bloat. Professor salaries cannot easily come down, and you cannot easily add more kids per class.
    - chongli 7y ago
      Schools don't need to bring professor salaries down. They just hire cheap adjuncts to teach a lot of classes. That greatly reduces their average cost per credit hour. Good professors pay for themselves by bringing in grant money.