[econjack]

I taught at a Big Ten university for over 10 years and during that time (approx 2000-2010), faculty averaged about a 2% salary increase. However, tuition rates quadrupled that rate. Where did the money go? Administrative salaries. It wasn't so much they got bigger raises (they did, at about double our rate). The increase was eaten up by new administrators. And I don't have hard data to prove it, I'd guess half of those were hired to oversee the paperwork that made Federal grants possible. Very little of any tuition increase directly benefited the students.

[youarekillingme]

I appreciate hearing your perspective. My daughter just graduated in 4 yeas with a stem degree from a state college. She worked hard. It was challenging. She spent 100k. I am not kidding. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to help her pay for most of it just so she has a fighting chance. I’ll probably have to take it out of my 401k when I retire. My son in law (same University), was placed on mandatory online classes due to covid19 and the college promptly started charging online students 3% more for the online tuition rates. All the while telling the media they were doing what they could to “help” students. They both received very good grades. He’s an engineer. There are no grants and scholarships for the likes of us.

[cgbg]

If you pay a prof 100K and they get a 5M federal grant (some of which goes to the university) it is a no brainer for the university.

Cut out the federal grants and the nonsense stops in a hurry.

Eisenhower nailed it in the paragraph of his "military industrial complex" speech that discussed the impact of federal grants:

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp

Excerpt:

A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.