WaPo feature on bad economic outlook for colleges

[Anonymous]

They'll be fine. They will just turn into *gasp* a school, instead of the monstrous machine we call colleges these days that aims for insane amounts of enrollees, useless amenities, and luxury based pricing models.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the president weren’t an idiot they could just make up for these shortfalls with International students.

Why - they aren't legal to work here once they are done school. They contribute back to their own country

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even worse than demographic change is the potential changing nature of education delivery with online classes. If the residential college experience becomes less "necessary" and viewed as an indulgent luxury, many more colleges are screwed.

Those same colleges can (and often do) offer online courses also. Heck, a lot of the schools around here like UMD have good online courses for professionals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, we all know that college costs have skyrocketed over the last couple of decades — is the article implying it’s because of the need to offer financial aid to less privileged kids? If many schools are funded through tuition and fees, and these schools have made major efforts to be more inclusive and diverse by offering more financial aid, doesn’t that have to be so? Maybe that’s been obvious to everyone else, but I didn’t really realize the direct connection until now — when the article said the state schools are a privilege for the wealthy, counterintuitive as that is.

It's interesting that there's no connection made to how much more expensive it is to operate now. There's more technology needed to teach, more services needed (from mental health to recreational facilities), and then the aid piece.

My friend works in admin at a university. While spending has skyrocketed, most of it is _not_ going into teaching. The % of employees who are staff versus faculty has doubled. Lots of admin and spending on things like flashy sports stadiums and student centers and fancy housing. Meanwhile, departmental budgets in academia are the first to get cut when things get tight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, we all know that college costs have skyrocketed over the last couple of decades — is the article implying it’s because of the need to offer financial aid to less privileged kids? If many schools are funded through tuition and fees, and these schools have made major efforts to be more inclusive and diverse by offering more financial aid, doesn’t that have to be so? Maybe that’s been obvious to everyone else, but I didn’t really realize the direct connection until now — when the article said the state schools are a privilege for the wealthy, counterintuitive as that is.

It's interesting that there's no connection made to how much more expensive it is to operate now. There's more technology needed to teach, more services needed (from mental health to recreational facilities), and then the aid piece.

My friend works in admin at a university. While spending has skyrocketed, most of it is _not_ going into teaching. The % of employees who are staff versus faculty has doubled. Lots of admin and spending on things like flashy sports stadiums and student centers and fancy housing. Meanwhile, departmental budgets in academia are the first to get cut when things get tight.

PP mentioned all the services needed.

There’s a great contradiction here. People lament rising tuition rates, but they also expect so many services at colleges. Advisors for everything. Health services. Psychological services. And god forbid the dining hall doesn’t have everything your heart desires (and gluten free, thank you).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even worse than demographic change is the potential changing nature of education delivery with online classes. If the residential college experience becomes less "necessary" and viewed as an indulgent luxury, many more colleges are screwed.

Those same colleges can (and often do) offer online courses also. Heck, a lot of the schools around here like UMD have good online courses for professionals.

But there is no way they can charge as much for online courses. There is too much economies of scale so competition will drive prices low.

[Anonymous]

This was supposed to happen for the class of 2019. I read about it when my child was born and I was so excited because they were just going to waltz into any school they wanted. But it's more competitive than ever. Yes I have been thinking about my child's college destination since they were born and fortunately they landed in a good place, but it certainly wasn't an easy process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've worked in higher ed for decades. Never heard that 2026 is "the apocalypse." I know birth rates will cause a decline in college-aged students, but more students seem interested in going to college. Maybe the issue will affect lesser known schools.

Glad they got an enrollment manager from Oregon to weight in? Random.

I've never heard of this either. Typical WaPo poor reporting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the president weren’t an idiot they could just make up for these shortfalls with International students.

And exactly what changes in immigration policy that our "idiot president" is proposing or implementing affects the number of international students?

Since Trump became the nominee, the rise of white supremacists and xenophobia has led to a drop in international student enrollment at US colleges. Unfortunately, Canadian universities may start to see this as well after their elections.

Sorry the facts don't match what you would like to believe, but 2019 was a record year for international students, topping off at 1.09 million foreign students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've worked in higher ed for decades. Never heard that 2026 is "the apocalypse." I know birth rates will cause a decline in college-aged students, but more students seem interested in going to college. Maybe the issue will affect lesser known schools.

Glad they got an enrollment manager from Oregon to weight in? Random.

I've never heard of this either. Typical WaPo poor reporting.

Yes, you two are THE source for news.

From 2018: https://www.google.com/amp/s/hechingerreport.org/the-number-of-public-school-students-could-fall-by-more-than-8-in-a-decade/amp/

[Anonymous]

Another one: https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/01/08/new-book-argues-most-colleges-are-about-face-significant-decline

[Anonymous]

There are many many articles stating that SLAC's are facing increasing enrollment challenges. They are all discussing this at their conferences, and trying to come up with potential remedies: ranging from cutting majors to adding grad degrees. The president of my child's school gave a talk about this at Parent's Weekend. It is real.

[Anonymous]

Hampshire College: The island of misfit students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even worse than demographic change is the potential changing nature of education delivery with online classes. If the residential college experience becomes less "necessary" and viewed as an indulgent luxury, many more colleges are screwed.

Those same colleges can (and often do) offer online courses also. Heck, a lot of the schools around here like UMD have good online courses for professionals.

But there is no way they can charge as much for online courses. There is too much economies of scale so competition will drive prices low.

Well their costs are lower, but also UMD or whoever can sell online courses at a premium due to their branding.

[Anonymous]

There is no reason to physically attend college