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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP - for those who say that excessive tuition costs are main problem - what measures do you think would be most effective and realistic for reducing financial burdens on students and their families ?[/quote]

As PP already mentioned - cut the staff and admin at universities, to start.[/quote]

Specifically, what staff? You have NO idea what these people do, so using your "knowledge" be specific, in terms of who should be cut.[/quote]

Yes---most have no clue.  Just think, during covid most administrators took on double/triple the work to make education happen, all while trying to figure out how to maintain employees who were not as "needed" for 6 months to a year (food service when dorms and campus were closed) all while working with millions less in budget (because most schools refunded R&B for the end of Spring 2020) and many schools with "2-4 years of living on campus requirements" allowed student stop remain at home fall of 2020. Those administrators worked their asses off to keep the schools functioning in a totally new environment, all while everyone around them complained no matter what they did.  [/quote]

OP - good point .. I am sure there are many admin staff who perform essential services to support teaching faculty and students but there are probably Some who do not add value.

I don’t know how universities should evaluate that but presumably teaching faculty should be on cost evaluation committees to weigh pros and cons for various positions that cost a lot of money - perhaps starting with athletic jobs since so many college sports programs cost more than revenues they bring in [/quote]

Well yes, the athletic jobs on many campuses are costly and do not bring in $$$ (outside of Big10 or SEC by and large).  But most other positions are essential, most add value to the overall college experience---there is so much more that goes into running a college campus than most people even think about.  And during Covid most schools had to make cuts, even in areas that are needed.  Key people lost jobs because the universities were in the red financially.  The work doesn't disappear when they cut people, they just save money and make the current workers overworked.

If you want college without all the added value, try a Community college, where there often are no dorm, no on campus experiences beyond the academic and a few clubs, etc.  And the professors are really just lecturers, many times without even a PHD (not always but many times) and certainly are paid even lower salaries.

During 2020/2021 I listened to the zoom presentations at my kid's university as they detailed everything they were doing for covid (including refunding R&B about 1 week after they cancelled on-campus for spring 2020), I saw the financials, they lost over $50M.  Because while the dorms are empty, you still have to maintain them (and most are older), you still have to heat them and fix broken pipes/etc.  They worked hard to find positions for the cafeteria staff elsewhere within the university, as over 50% of the staff came from the surrounding neighborhood (which is extremely poor---Jesuit university, located in one of most needy neighborhoods in the city and uni tries to employ those in the neighborhood), all while providing support to the faculty and staff who are trying to transition to online learning (hint: it's costly and requires training and TONS of IT staff to make it happen---lets just say unless it's an engineering/CS prof not all professors are technically inclined).  Those in management (top 20-30 administrators) were working overtime for months (I'd say thru spring 2021 easily).  They had on campus classes fall of 2020, but with "reduced class sizes".  Can you imagine for a moment how you create enough classrooms to have all students be 6 ft apart?  They turned the gym and every available space into "classrooms".  Oh, and to keep students 6 ft apart, meant that instead of all 50-60 kids attending classes MWF, only 15-20 could attend on M, another 15-20 on W and remainder on F.  Someone had to manage this and ensure they were in compliance with the city and state protocols.  Then someone had to manage covid testing and handling outbreaks, etc.  2 ENTIRE Dorms were shut down before Thanksgiving---as in completely shut down, you have 6-8 hours to leave and go home for 10 days or remain in isolation in that dorm.  I can only imagine the level of staff/administration work needed to make this happen, to keep kids safe, to provide food, outdoor time (yes they had an outdoor area where kids were allowed 6 ft apart during certain hours) and mental health support.

If anything in the last 3 years, college staff and administrators have worked overtime to make college happen for your kids and have not been compensated for the extra work.  
  
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Thank you for illuminating the complexities of non teaching staff contributions to university functions. Running a university is indeed far from obvious.

So do you think there is little room for private colleges to trim fat? And college tuition prices realistic in your view ?

[/quote]

The above was at a T100 school (closer to the 100).  They already "trimmed the fat" during covid and even before with the anticipation of "less students after the class of 2022" (the millennium baby class).  Sure they could cut some more, but most cuts will come with less services for the students, they won't come without a cost.  Fact is most universities are really not that bloated.  It costs a lot to run a university on all levels.

I wish college tuition prices were lower.  But for everyone complaining about that, you also get parents who complain "the dorms don't have AC".  Honestly had a several parents (a few years ago)  who do not get why the university doesn't spend millions on retrofitting older dorms with AC for the 2-3 weeks per year the students would need it (school really is somewhere it's not needed much---I've done May pickup when it's 55 as a high).  Fact is it would cost millions to do that, and most dorms simply cannot easily be retrofitted because the electrical system could not handle it.  It would almost be cheaper to tear the dorm down and start over.  
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