What nonsense. If the author had bothered to go out and look at any university nearby he could see what universities are doing right now to adjust to the new f

What nonsense. If the author had bothered to go out and look at any university nearby he could see what universities are doing right now to adjust to the new funding landscape. You have an increased reliance on poorly paid adjuncts. It does keep personnel costs down, but the rapid turnover and poor pay don't increase quality of instruction. It takes a semester or two to develop a lecture course as taught at any new place, and after two years you are off to greener pastures. You try to attract students at any costs, regardless of academic ability. They may not benefit from watered-down instruction because they are unprepared or insufficiently capable, they may not finish, but while they are there they keep the place running. This is what is happening, no speculation needed.