Page 214 - Crisis in Higher Education

Government’s Role in Higher Education • 185

of the students and provide a lower cost, high-quality alternative to private
universities.
There is an opportunity for state and local governments to use their fund-
ing as a mechanism to pressure public colleges and universities to lower
costs and improve performance. Analysis of the cost factors for higher
education, which is contained in Chapter 2, indicates that tuition, fees,
and textbooks have risen much faster than the rate of inflation. Following
are actions that state and local governments could take to lower costs.

1. Tuition: A key factor that is driving cost increase is administrative
spending. Public colleges and universities would be required to pre-
pare a five-year rolling plan to reduce administrative expenses by a
substantial amount. The cuts must be large because administrative
positions increased by 369% from 1978 to 2014, while tenured faculty
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increased by only 23%. For the same period, enrollment in under-
graduate degree programs grew by 73%. By the numbers, admin-
27
istrators grew five times faster than student enrollment. A specific
recommendation on administrative cuts is given in Chapter 11,
which discusses administration and management.
2. Student fees: State and local governments should require public col-
leges and universities to change these fees as described in Chapter 7.
Fees cannot be used for academic purposes and are paid at the
option of students. Routine, learning-related activities such as day-
to-day computer services must be paid by tuition dollars, not by
student fees.
3. Textbooks and other learning materials: In line with the second point
in this list, these items are learning related and should be covered by
tuition. This is not simply a cost transfer from one place to another
on students’ budgets for higher education. As discussed in Chapter 7
on becoming student centered and Chapter 13 on high-tech learning
materials, this is a different approach where institutions work with
publishers to create better learning tools and negotiate better prices.
As third-party payers, state and local government are positioned to
require public colleges and universities to make this happen.

In addition, as discussed in Chapter 3, there are problems with gradua-
tion rates, time to completion, and job placements. State and local govern-
ments can condition a portion of their appropriation to public colleges
and universities on setting and meeting goals that are consistent with