Re:Bloated College Administration Is Making Education Unaffo...
by thaumasiotes on Monday November 07, 2022 @03:21AM
(#33502801)
> Stanford has now reached the point that they recently built an entire 35-acre campus just for administrators.
Mmm... I read an article once that pointed out that there are two basic schools of thought on "why college is so expensive today". Some people say it's more expensive to run a college, and so tuition has to cover that. And some people say it's more important to have a degree, or easier to get your college expenses financed, and so tuition expands to meet demand.
It's very easy to distinguish between these two theories at a basic level: one of them says that prices have gone up because supply has fallen, and the other says prices have gone up because demand has risen. But the article pointed out that, while these two causes have the same directional effect on prices, they have opposite effects on quantity sold: if supply has fallen, you see fewer purchases at higher prices, whereas if demand has risen, you see more purchases at higher prices.
And it's very clear that colleges are in the second scenario, with prices and enrollment rising in tandem.
But "it's because of administration costs" is a supply-has-fallen theory. It would make more sense to explain Stanford's luxury campus for administrators by saying that Stanford has so much money coming in, the administrators can afford to help themselves.
Mmm... I read an article once that pointed out that there are two basic schools of thought on "why college is so expensive today". Some people say it's more expensive to run a college, and so tuition has to cover that. And some people say it's more important to have a degree, or easier to get your college expenses financed, and so tuition expands to meet demand.
It's very easy to distinguish between these two theories at a basic level: one of them says that prices have gone up because supply has fallen, and the other says prices have gone up because demand has risen. But the article pointed out that, while these two causes have the same directional effect on prices, they have opposite effects on quantity sold: if supply has fallen, you see fewer purchases at higher prices, whereas if demand has risen, you see more purchases at higher prices.
And it's very clear that colleges are in the second scenario, with prices and enrollment rising in tandem.
But "it's because of administration costs" is a supply-has-fallen theory. It would make more sense to explain Stanford's luxury campus for administrators by saying that Stanford has so much money coming in, the administrators can afford to help themselves.