Page 224 - Crisis in Higher Education

Government’s Role in Higher Education • 195

expect better outcomes. The following list examines how this element of
the solution impacts the root causes, which are discussed in Chapter 4:

1. Lack of understanding—Who is the customer? (root cause 1):
Governments should present themselves to institutions of higher
learning as customers and demand that they get better value for
their investment.
2. Declining state support for public universities (root cause 2):
Governments can change their level of subsidies in response to the
actions and performance of institutions.
3. Rise of the ruling class: Administration (root cause 3): Administrative
costs may be the single biggest reason why higher education costs
have increases. Governments can respond by modifying subsidies to
gain the changes in staffing that they deem appropriate.
4. Limited productivity improvements for universities (root cause 4):
Productivity of administrators and faculty is relevant. Governments
should encourage investments in technology to enhance productiv-
ity and reduce administrative and instructional costs.
5. Rapidly growing costs for books and supplies (root cause 5):
Universities can help publishers design more effective and less
expensive learning materials. Governments provide the incentive.
6. Funding finesse—Mixing fees and tuition (root cause 6):
Governments can require public colleges and universities to use
student fees for nonacademic purposes only, make fees optional
for students, and prohibit comingling of tuition dollars and fees.
7. Eroding standards (root cause 8): Governments, potential employers,
and accreditation agencies want to maintain learning content and
performance standards so graduates are better prepared and have
more successful careers.

9.8 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Following is a list of the key recommendations that comprise this element
of the solution.

1. Governments’ role in higher education should be somewhere in the
middle between the extreme positions of making high education