UMD system faces 500M budget shortfall in 2021

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We knew this was coming. It’s why we prepaid for 4 years of tuition in August for our baby. Universities - public and private - will pass on the costs of COVID onto the students/families rather than tightening the belts. The burden will fall mostly on young people, which is sad but entirely predictable.

We paid $47K out of pocket last month. In 18 years, I can easily see UMD costing $80K for four years at in-state tuition rates.

Some universities have faculty and admins taking pay cuts. So no, students’ families aren’t the only ones affected.

[Anonymous]

All of the smug repaid aren’t need to understand that what your student will get for that tuition is less.

Majors will be cut or consolidated - not everything offered everywhere so you will do some classes remotely at another MD college or university (see the WI plan).

More sports will be dropped (not the biggies which pay their way). Faculty will be replaced with adjuncts as they retire (early/forced) and more classes will be delivered virtually permanently.

Campuses known for top flight research will lose that status internationally because the best international students are choosing universities in other countries.

It is grim and oh yeah, tuition will go up.

[Anonymous]

Remote learning and increase class size, it's dumb they are charging so much for in person. It should be 5k a year if they could implement online learning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of the smug repaid aren’t need to understand that what your student will get for that tuition is less.

Majors will be cut or consolidated - not everything offered everywhere so you will do some classes remotely at another MD college or university (see the WI plan).

More sports will be dropped (not the biggies which pay their way). Faculty will be replaced with adjuncts as they retire (early/forced) and more classes will be delivered virtually permanently.

Campuses known for top flight research will lose that status internationally because the best international students are choosing universities in other countries.

It is grim and oh yeah, tuition will go up.

When choosing between UMD and a private school this year, DS went with the private school. One reason was fearing lots of cuts at the state schools would lower the quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remote learning and increase class size, it's dumb they are charging so much for in person. It should be 5k a year if they could implement online learning

Again, the “discount” is not having to pay room and board

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We knew this was coming. It’s why we prepaid for 4 years of tuition in August for our baby. Universities - public and private - will pass on the costs of COVID onto the students/families rather than tightening the belts. The burden will fall mostly on young people, which is sad but entirely predictable.

We paid $47K out of pocket last month. In 18 years, I can easily see UMD costing $80K for four years at in-state tuition rates.

Actually what happens if they declare bankruptcy? Do you lose that money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remote learning and increase class size, it's dumb they are charging so much for in person. It should be 5k a year if they could implement online learning

The value of a college education is still personalized feedback and relationships in many courses. It takes a professor just as long to read and respond to work on-line as it does in person. A meeting with a student takes just as long etc. The work doesn't change. Otherwise free MOOCs would actually work. You can cheapen online education by having less qualified faculty but then a student doesn't form a relationship with people doing the scholarly work and research in an area. Some courses --with easily gradable problem sets and clear content--might be cheaper to run on-line, but not the majority.

[Anonymous]

Also colleges have been in a massive building spree the last 30 years largely financed vis 30 year muni bonds. The infrastructure build is expensive to maintain and debt needs to be serviced. Just cause students are not there does not mean expenses are not there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remote learning and increase class size, it's dumb they are charging so much for in person. It should be 5k a year if they could implement online learning

The value of a college education is still personalized feedback and relationships in many courses. It takes a professor just as long to read and respond to work on-line as it does in person. A meeting with a student takes just as long etc. The work doesn't change. Otherwise free MOOCs would actually work. You can cheapen online education by having less qualified faculty but then a student doesn't form a relationship with people doing the scholarly work and research in an area. Some courses --with easily gradable problem sets and clear content--might be cheaper to run on-line, but not the majority.

This prior statement is so stupid. As a faculty member at a top school whose salary has been cut by 10% this year, I've never worked so much. Not only do I have to hold my normal live class sessions on Zoom, I am actually holding 50% MORE in-class time to accommodate international students who are stuck in their home countries at 6-12 hour time differences and are unable to attend the normal class sessions because it is middle of the night their time. In addition, because it's so difficult for students to focus in 1.5 hour class sessions on Zoom, I've had to make short lecture videos that took many many hours to produce between switching between powerpoint, camera lecture, working problems, etc.

I've had to move all of my quizzes online and now do grading using an iPad pro because I can't print out and scan in 200 exam papers. It's made grading take about 20 hours for each quiz as opposed to the usual 10.

In addition to the above, students have become even more demanding. Instead of having regularly weekly office hours, many students now expect to meet with you at any random time. I am receiving multiple e-mails a day saying, "Hey prof, do you have 10 minutes to talk this morning?" I'll get back to the student saying yes and keep my morning schedule open, and sit there for two hours waiting for a no-show student who then asks "oh whoops I had xyz to do, can you do this afternoon instead?" Yesterday evening I was shopping at Target and an e-mail came in from a student group who was having an "emergency" on their assignment due the next morning and actually expected me to get on Zoom in half an hour. I rushed home to get on Zoom. This is the new normal, apparently, all for the blessed reward of a 10% salary cut.

So no, it is not less work to teach online, it's actually more work. If you don't like paying tuition then by all means please withdraw your child from college. I'm fine teaching fewer students. Since the revenues never end up going to faculty anyway and instead get spent on building a new luxury mcmansion dorm for your little Jaylen and Noah, or to paying the assistant football coach $600k, I couldn't care less if your kid instead goes to a trade school where they probably belong anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We knew this was coming. It’s why we prepaid for 4 years of tuition in August for our baby. Universities - public and private - will pass on the costs of COVID onto the students/families rather than tightening the belts. The burden will fall mostly on young people, which is sad but entirely predictable.

We paid $47K out of pocket last month. In 18 years, I can easily see UMD costing $80K for four years at in-state tuition rates.

Some universities have faculty and admins taking pay cuts. So no, students’ families aren’t the only ones affected.

+1 UMD furloughed all staff in 2008 and will inevitably do so again. AU has started with one week faculty and staff furloughs, plus retirement benefits suspended for at least 6 months, with more to come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remote learning and increase class size, it's dumb they are charging so much for in person. It should be 5k a year if they could implement online learning

I have been teaching online since March and find I am putting in more time. I also believe I am less effective....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We knew this was coming. It’s why we prepaid for 4 years of tuition in August for our baby. Universities - public and private - will pass on the costs of COVID onto the students/families rather than tightening the belts. The burden will fall mostly on young people, which is sad but entirely predictable.

We paid $47K out of pocket last month. In 18 years, I can easily see UMD costing $80K for four years at in-state tuition rates.

Some universities have faculty and admins taking pay cuts. So no, students’ families aren’t the only ones affected.

+1 UMD furloughed all staff in 2008 and will inevitably do so again. AU has started with one week faculty and staff furloughs, plus retirement benefits suspended for at least 6 months, with more to come.

Hopkins also suspended retirement contributions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remote learning and increase class size, it's dumb they are charging so much for in person. It should be 5k a year if they could implement online learning

The value of a college education is still personalized feedback and relationships in many courses. It takes a professor just as long to read and respond to work on-line as it does in person. A meeting with a student takes just as long etc. The work doesn't change. Otherwise free MOOCs would actually work. You can cheapen online education by having less qualified faculty but then a student doesn't form a relationship with people doing the scholarly work and research in an area. Some courses --with easily gradable problem sets and clear content--might be cheaper to run on-line, but not the majority.

This prior statement is so stupid. As a faculty member at a top school whose salary has been cut by 10% this year, I've never worked so much. Not only do I have to hold my normal live class sessions on Zoom, I am actually holding 50% MORE in-class time to accommodate international students who are stuck in their home countries at 6-12 hour time differences and are unable to attend the normal class sessions because it is middle of the night their time. In addition, because it's so difficult for students to focus in 1.5 hour class sessions on Zoom, I've had to make short lecture videos that took many many hours to produce between switching between powerpoint, camera lecture, working problems, etc.

I've had to move all of my quizzes online and now do grading using an iPad pro because I can't print out and scan in 200 exam papers. It's made grading take about 20 hours for each quiz as opposed to the usual 10.

In addition to the above, students have become even more demanding. Instead of having regularly weekly office hours, many students now expect to meet with you at any random time. I am receiving multiple e-mails a day saying, "Hey prof, do you have 10 minutes to talk this morning?" I'll get back to the student saying yes and keep my morning schedule open, and sit there for two hours waiting for a no-show student who then asks "oh whoops I had xyz to do, can you do this afternoon instead?" Yesterday evening I was shopping at Target and an e-mail came in from a student group who was having an "emergency" on their assignment due the next morning and actually expected me to get on Zoom in half an hour. I rushed home to get on Zoom. This is the new normal, apparently, all for the blessed reward of a 10% salary cut.

So no, it is not less work to teach online, it's actually more work. If you don't like paying tuition then by all means please withdraw your child from college. I'm fine teaching fewer students. Since the revenues never end up going to faculty anyway and instead get spent on building a new luxury mcmansion dorm for your little Jaylen and Noah, or to paying the assistant football coach $600k, I couldn't care less if your kid instead goes to a trade school where they probably belong anyway.

Omg, who and what are you? The students are not clients or your boss. Why the f are you running home and sitting around for no-show students? That’s just stupid on your part. As long you show up to your office hours and do your best with zoom, there is lemonade. Stop being such a wuss and grow a backbone. You are doing fine. Stop enabling entitled behavior. We are all going through this pandemic together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remote learning and increase class size, it's dumb they are charging so much for in person. It should be 5k a year if they could implement online learning

The value of a college education is still personalized feedback and relationships in many courses. It takes a professor just as long to read and respond to work on-line as it does in person. A meeting with a student takes just as long etc. The work doesn't change. Otherwise free MOOCs would actually work.

This is exactly right. I am spending just as much time interacting with my students and grading their work as ever (and way more time creating live and recorded class sessions). If you doubled my class size, I’d have only half as much time for each of them. And I’m finding that students need that contact with their professors more than ever.

—professor in a writing-intensive discipline

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just know the room and board is more expensive at UMD then tuition so make sure you are saving for that too (unless you live close). My DD got a full tuition scholarship but we still pay more than half the full amount.

BTW..what happens to those pre-pays if your kid get merit aid?

You can also roll it into another 529 plan for the same beneficiary/ account holder at any time.