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It Is Time to Treat Higher Education as the Business It Is mises.org/mises-wire/it-time-treat-higher-education-business-it

218 sats \ 14 comments \ @kepford 9 Jul meta

By separating the producer-consumer relationship that is applied to private goods and services, government regulations and "oversight" has transformed higher education for the worst. It's time to restore that proper relationship.

by David Brady, Jr.

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235 sats \ 11 replies \ @TNStacker 9 Jul

A couple of issues with this well-intentioned article.

Their career choices stemmed from the college education? I don't think this is the case for most. Now, saying people are making career choices without a cost/benefit analysis makes sense.

Not a day goes by without a TikTok video surfacing of unhappy Gen-Zers or millennials lamenting their career choices that stemmed from college education.

Until the last year or two, the trend in state funding of state supported universities has been downward for decades. Blaming the problem on government spending is political fodder.

Source:

Across the U.S., 32 states spent less on public colleges and universities in 2020 than in 2008, with an average decline of nearly $1,500 per student. As a result, students need to pay (and borrow) more.

https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/state-funding-higher-education-still-lagging#:~:text=Across%20the%20U.S.%2C%2032%20states,pay%20(and%20borrow)%20more.

31 sats \ 4 replies \ @kepford OP 9 Jul

I have a VERY hard time believing the NEA is correct on that. But, even if they are I would say this is a good thing.

55 sats \ 3 replies \ @TNStacker 9 Jul

Chose your own information source, but you won't trust those, either. We are talking about public schools so the data is collected by the state governments, federal governments or the unions. Although, the big state universities will often hire a consulting firm, like Bain, that has alumni working for them.

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @kepford OP 9 Jul

Here's why I don't trust it. I haven't verified it. But for most of my life I have heard stuff like this and almost always the truth is that rate of increase has decreased. Or the way the money was allocated was changed. Or the way they measure money being spent on students was changed. That's what I'm saying.

There has been a trend for some time of spending more education money on administrators for example. Many in education push back on this, but the core problem is as the article states. There isn't a market incentive. Public education is not the real world. There are still good people in the systems but the systems themselves are rotten.

IMO there shouldn't be any public schools at all and definitely not so called public universities.

55 sats \ 1 reply \ @TNStacker 9 Jul

I agree. But they can make the point better without the faulty information. Otherwise, they are only preaching to the choir. Which may be their aim. It is for so many media outlets today.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 9 Jul

I agree with you there. Not sure that is happening here. Maybe it is

76 sats \ 5 replies \ @Undisciplined 10 Jul

Until the last year or two, the trend in state funding of state supported universities has been downward for decades. Blaming the problem on government spending is political fodder.

That doesn't include federal student aid, though. It's not like many people are just coming out of pocket to cover higher tuition. It's government spending all the way down.

21 sats \ 4 replies \ @TNStacker 10 Jul

Fed aid is what changed the trajectory the last couple of years. Biden upped the game so much it reversed decades long trends.

76 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 10 Jul

Also, state allocations might be tied to enrollments, which have been declining steadily since about 2016.

42 sats \ 1 reply \ @TNStacker 10 Jul

Many states moved away from "butts in seats" funding models in the last 20 years. Now number of degrees, time to degree, starting salary of graduates etc. drive funding models in higher ed. But understand the big, name schools are driven by research funding, which is Fed led.

76 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 10 Jul

I was just speculating. None of the places I've been had their state funding tied to enrollment. I have seen some really sketchy practices around financial aid, though, which obviously scales with enrollment.

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @TNStacker 10 Jul

The trend I'm speaking of goes back to the 90s. But yes from the mid 2010s to now the shift and reversal is happening.

Tennessee has a drive to 55 program to try to manage the pending "enrollment cliff," plus expand economic development.

I don't understand why politics enters into Education.