During very difficult economic times in the world, universities and colleges have to roll with the punches. Every possible money-saving trick has to be used and every cent has to be accounted for. According to many different reports and opinion panels, faculty and students are going to be hit hard by these cost-cutting measures no matter which campus you attend.
The University of Northern Iowa, for example is possibly cutting its esteemed Division I baseball team which would save the school $400,000. Louisiana State University might deal with a funding shortage of $101 million by raising the number of teaching hours and class sizes of professors, and also furloughing staff. Clemson University is putting any new construction projects on the back burner to save $15 million.
The above measures are truly cost-effective and are to be respected. They are not half-measures as are taken by other schools which whine and ask for more money or threaten to close. Student loans are more difficult to get now and certainly tuition hikes are turning some applicants away. The tide is turning on the so-called prestigious universities which sat back in times past by and waited for faculty and students to arrive on cue. Those days are gone!
Princeton’s tuition, for example, is rising 3.1% to $35,000 which is a ridiculous burden to put on a family or a student with loans to meet. Similarly, Northwestern is raising its tuition to over $38,000. Many caricatures have been drawn in USA Today about the cost of sending your precious child to higher learning.
So how can we be part of the solution instead of the problem? Universities used to be places of learning, not a spa or sports arena. Tone down the extras such as food courts, sports teams, faculty pay, staff pay raises, raise actual time for professors to spend in the classroom and cut down on teaching assistants.
These are just a few ways to keep the wolves from the door!
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