Tuition Rates as a Barrier to Higher Education

Obviously the extreme economic downturn is having an effect on higher education, and there are many articles in the press about immediate and future impacts.  The Wall Street Journal captured the general issues that have recently been in the press, and concludes that the combination of current and planned enrollment caps and tuition increases “will fall hardest on low-income and minority students whose parents and high schools often have fewer resources to navigate the college-application process.”  This story focuses on public colleges and universities.  On December 1, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC) issued a report titled “University Tuition, Consumer Choice, and College Affordability.”  In its story on the report, Inside Higher Ed quotes David Shulenberger, one of the report’s authors, as saying that “this isn’t a short-term problem and will not get a short-term solution.”

The report is directed at public universities and calls for some interesting things that these schools might consider.  For example, unbundling costs rather than bundling together research, teaching and service.  The authors are noted as saying that for-profit colleges and universities have figured out how to do this.  The report calls for consideration of increased use of online instruction and course redesigns to assure quality while becoming more cost-effective.  There is also a suggestion to consider reducing the time required for a baccalaureate degree to three years from the current assumption of four years.  I must say that times are changing and it is becoming very clear that the questions about whether learning can occur in online education seem to be behind us, and maybe the idea that higher education quality can be assured while also being cost-effective may be gaining acceptance as well.

Predictably, the report calls for public colleges and universities to “push for a return to the idea of a more meaningful contribution from state coffers.”  But what really concerns me is the following quote:  “[A] society that tends to view higher education as a consumer good rather than an investment good will tend to perpetuate elites who have themselves had a higher education and will endeavor to afford one for their children.  The children of the poor will tend to remain poor as they will get much less higher education.”  This statement portrays powerful and deeply concerning societal impacts as a result of the current economic downturn.

What these two articles prompt me to ask is whether it is at all realistic to assume that states will be able to increase funding for higher education in the foreseeable future?  Whether the times require a more fundamental re-conceptualization about how higher education should be funded?  Can the current approaches to funding hold up in the future?  Are we willing to give up on dreams of access and equity and slide back into elitism?  Can this problem be resolved state by state?  Can the nation afford to sit back and simply see what happens?  Is now the time for meaningful, fundamental, bold change?  If so, what would it look like?

Please let me know what you think. All suggestions are welcome.

Mike