3 ms·

Let me see if I understand this correctly (feel free to provide other perspectives): Universities are afraid that by charging students $20,000 per year in tuit

Let me see if I understand this correctly (feel free to provide other perspectives): Universities are afraid that by charging students $20,000 per year in tuition for an online degree, people will begin to question its value and possibly turn to other alternatives (perhaps, maybe also enrol in universities abroad that have low or no fees). Thereby pulling the curtains on the whole tuition fee charade, which is that the lion's share is used to find non-academic related expenses (I'm guessing: administration, outreach, marketing, a nice website) [1] Universities that rely heavily on large sums of money from student fees are now faced with 2 choices: 1) Charge close to the same amount of tuition fees for an "online" university experience 2) Re-open and continue with business as usual, hoping the risks of Covid-19 transmission can be mitigated Option 2 apparently seems like the more attractive version to maintain the status quo, which leads to attempts at convincing people that restarting face-to-face teaching is a reasonable way to go forward. If this is what is going on, then this is yet another issue with universities that rely too heavily on income from tuition fees to survive. The primary functions of (public) universities is to educate the population and conduct research. The ability to perform those functions must be prioritised and subsidised via public funds to guard against the influence of financial stability creeping into the decision making process on how to conduct activities for these primary functions. I have studied in both the UK (9,000GBP/Year) and Germany (<€500 per year) and noticed a massive difference in the way both were run and my life as a student in each. [1]https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/22/less-than-half-of-tuition-fees-spent-on-teaching-at-english-universities https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/22/less-than-...

claudeganon 6y ago
Given the infection curve in the US, scenario 2 defies the laws of nature, so I hope universities don’t try it. I don’t doubt that some will, but under no circumstances should it be considered a reasonable option.
- andrew_eit 6y ago
  It is the same in Germany currently, although the spread is well under control, most education institutions are still highly skeptical of reopening for the semester after Summer.
- Miner49er 6y ago
  From my understanding most Universities are currently planning on 2, but with going online after Thanksgiving.
  - claudeganon 6y ago
    Sure, but they'll either be forced to change course by states, insurance-related concerns, or when people start dying on their campuses. The reality of the pandemic has little to do with their performances of safety or viability.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> Universities that rely heavily on large sums of money from student fees Is that really normal? As I understand it, most major universities’ revenue is driven largely by research, and the total student fees barely cover the costs of dealing with students; it's true that students paying full sticker price provide surplus revenue, but that surplus revenue largely goes to subsidize the costs of students paying below cost fees.

claudeganon 6y ago

Given the infection curve in the US, scenario 2 defies the laws of nature, so I hope universities don’t try it. I don’t doubt that some will, but under no circumstances should it be considered a reasonable option.

andrew_eit 6y ago
It is the same in Germany currently, although the spread is well under control, most education institutions are still highly skeptical of reopening for the semester after Summer.
Miner49er 6y ago
From my understanding most Universities are currently planning on 2, but with going online after Thanksgiving.
- claudeganon 6y ago
  Sure, but they'll either be forced to change course by states, insurance-related concerns, or when people start dying on their campuses. The reality of the pandemic has little to do with their performances of safety or viability.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> Universities that rely heavily on large sums of money from student fees Is that really normal? As I understand it, most major universities’ revenue is driven largely by research, and the total student fees barely cover the costs of dealing with students; it's true that students paying full sticker price provide surplus revenue, but that surplus revenue largely goes to subsidize the costs of students paying below cost fees.