4 ms·

Colleges urged to produce better information on how they spend money

21 points by hhs 3y ago

downrightmike 3y ago
"Well, we inflate tuition so we can give enough assistance so we don't have to pay taxes, because that makes use a tax exempt charity. And then we stuff nearly all the money into our endowment. Which is quite a lot because it barely takes the tuition the freshman class pays to pay for all the education of all of the students we have. And then we expand the Administration so we can milk more alumni and donors."
next_xibalba 3y ago
This is a good, if very minimal, start. The cost of a college education is utterly absurd and the fault lies primarily with the administrators (and the people whose duty is to oversee them). This is also adjacent to my views around student debt relief. I will never support any student debt relief that doesn't hold schools accountable for producing huge numbers of graduates with economically useless training. Schools need to be saddled with a large share of that liability, not just taxpayers.
- theGnuMe 3y ago
  Economically useful? Really?
  - EduardoBautista 3y ago
    Economical usefulness is the top reason people seek higher education.
egberts1 3y ago
Somebody has to pay for all those failed politicians going into the ever-so bloated college administrations.
quercusa 3y ago
“Prior boards were merely ceremonial. If you’ve got a board that never asks about financials and just wants to talk about winning the next game or when the cocktail party is, they are not going to get a lot done,” he said. I had a trustee (of a private institution) tell me "We just approve whatever the administration sends us." I'd long suspected that was the case but was shocked to hear someone say it out loud. I guess if you asked too many questions you wouldn't be re-nominated and you'd miss out on the dinners, swag, and honoraria.
archo 3y ago
https://archive.is/ej4lP https://archive.is/ej4lP
euroderf 3y ago
Higher ed is too important to be left to professionals, it seems.
archo 3y ago
Colleges spend like there’s no tomorrow Previous Discussions on HN: (3-comments - 2023-08-11) : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37090454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37090454 Previous Discussions on HN: (7-comments - 2023-08-10) : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37074472 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37074472

21 points by hhs 3y ago

"Well, we inflate tuition so we can give enough assistance so we don't have to pay taxes, because that makes use a tax exempt charity. And then we stuff nearly all the money into our endowment. Which is quite a lot because it barely takes the tuition the freshman class pays to pay for all the education of all of the students we have. And then we expand the Administration so we can milk more alumni and donors."

next_xibalba 3y ago

This is a good, if very minimal, start. The cost of a college education is utterly absurd and the fault lies primarily with the administrators (and the people whose duty is to oversee them). This is also adjacent to my views around student debt relief. I will never support any student debt relief that doesn't hold schools accountable for producing huge numbers of graduates with economically useless training. Schools need to be saddled with a large share of that liability, not just taxpayers.

theGnuMe 3y ago
Economically useful? Really?
- EduardoBautista 3y ago
  Economical usefulness is the top reason people seek higher education.

egberts1 3y ago

Somebody has to pay for all those failed politicians going into the ever-so bloated college administrations.

quercusa 3y ago

“Prior boards were merely ceremonial. If you’ve got a board that never asks about financials and just wants to talk about winning the next game or when the cocktail party is, they are not going to get a lot done,” he said. I had a trustee (of a private institution) tell me "We just approve whatever the administration sends us." I'd long suspected that was the case but was shocked to hear someone say it out loud. I guess if you asked too many questions you wouldn't be re-nominated and you'd miss out on the dinners, swag, and honoraria.

archo 3y ago

https://archive.is/ej4lP https://archive.is/ej4lP

euroderf 3y ago

Higher ed is too important to be left to professionals, it seems.

archo 3y ago

Colleges spend like there’s no tomorrow Previous Discussions on HN: (3-comments - 2023-08-11) : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37090454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37090454 Previous Discussions on HN: (7-comments - 2023-08-10) : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37074472 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37074472