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On the subject of tuition, my uncle has worked in government as an auditor for years now. Now that he's in a state job, he's come across something interesting.
by georgieporgie 15y ago
On the subject of tuition, my uncle has worked in government as an auditor for years now. Now that he's in a state job, he's come across something interesting.
One of the biggest state universities here has been dumping huge amounts of money into research. What has come out of it? Absolutely nothing. It's basically a few people getting obscene money, employing support staff, and not producing anything.
A full audit hasn't been performed yet, but based on initial data, he thinks that if this activity is ended, tuition could drop by 40% or more.
- overgryphon 15y agoResearch is incredibly important. It focuses on creating knowledge, even in areas that aren't currently profitable. Without research, a university is little more than a larger version of high school. Research was by far the most challenging and rewarding portion of my college education, and I cannot fathom why anyone would want to end research.
- jmspring 15y agoWell, there is "dumping money into research" and the actual amount of money that goes into research. I've heard from multiple professors/friends that when they apply for and get a grant, a large percentage (on the order of 1/3) goes straight to "administrative costs" (lawyers, etc), even if it is the professor that does all the work. I think it is important that universities continue to do research and that there be funding at the local, state, and federal level for such. The thing that needs to be looked at is (like charities have to report), how much per grant dollar goes to actual research. I suspect University overhead takes more than it's fair share. Administrative overhead has popped up at all levels of education, grade/highschool, JC/State and University levels. The layers of middle management (as well as regulations that require/perpetuate it) are where the auditing should be done.