Posted on 03/06/2019 6:09:04 AM PST by reaganaut1
Two facts about colleges stand out. First, they are largely (some argue almost entirely) a “private” good; that is to say, the benefits from college attendance accrue mainly to the student, not to society at large. For example, the Census Bureau tells us the typical male adult college graduate made about $30,000 a year more in 2017 than his counterpart with just a high school diploma. That’s private benefit.
While there are numerous arguments claiming “positive externalities” of college, the evidence for our 50 states suggests that state governments that shower lots of money on their public universities do not get higher rates of economic growth as a consequence—the positive economic externalities from spending state funds for higher education are pretty elusive.
Second, evidence from the Equality of Opportunity Project of Raj Chetty and several others shows that the overwhelming majority of students at most four-year colleges and universities come from relatively affluent families. There are 38 private schools, including a majority of the Ivy League, where more students come from the top one percent in the income distribution than the bottom 60 percent.
...
The good news is that there is a parallel, but little-publicized, “free college” movement underway. Private employers are increasingly paying the tuition of their employees. That doesn’t cost taxpayers anything.
For years, many employers have offered to pay part of the graduate schooling costs of some of their relatively high-paid managerial and technical employees. For example, a large business might pay some or all the tuition for an M.B.A. degree program, provided the employee agrees to stay at least two years after completion. But now employers are increasing their tuition benefit programs to relatively low-paying employees with high school diplomas who want to earn college degrees.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
Make the Profs teach 3 courses per semester.
As Trump said on immigration, MERIT.
Anyone could run a reasonable cost university program, for less than $5,000 a year. But you’d have to start with the director of the university making no more than $100,000....with seasoned instructor/professors making no more than $75,000 a year. Then you’d run the operation without any sports gimmicks. Then for administration staff....limit yourself to just one per each professor. No diversity staff....no campus dorms....and just plain 401k type retirement situations. I should also emphasize...toss out about 50-percent of all degree program that normally exist....no fake degrees or degrees without any value. I’d even go and suggest CLEP test-out options be mandatory for first-year students, to help them avoid classes.
The dollar difference between college grad and non-college grads does not mean what most people think it means.
What it does mean is:
On average college grads are smarter and harder-working than non college grads, and there is no evidence their time at college increased either attribute.
Most employers are still using college as a required credential even if it is not really needed to do the job.
If the student loan program ended tomorrow the country would be far better off—and if company HR departments stopped discriminating against non-college grads the college boondoggle would come to a rapid end.
Let’s skip the intermediate steps. How about “Free Life”?
It is BOTH a private and public good—higher educated and paid citizens means better tax base and less citizens on public services. Higher paid citizens means less “need” to import cheap educated foreign labor. This is the problem, they want uneducated Americans to do the lower jobs and compete with illegals at lower wages, less higher educated citizens so they can import cheaper labor. Big business wins by keeping wages down in both. Americans lose.
Find the two or three best teachers on each subject and offer their courses on line for $500/year to anyone and everyone.
You get what you pay for
The company I work for is paying for my MBA. Only issue with it is based on my tuition, it comes out to three classes per year, with $700.00 remaining. I have to figure out how I can get the company to fund an additional $900.00 so I can take an extra class and finish a year earlier.
I like your points however there is a large issue with number 5: in our litigation crazed society, you cannot simply change the requirements for a position when you already have hired individuals who were compelled to meet those requirements. The business could be sued (and routinely are for much less.) You would not believe the amount of legal contortions that come into play defining the requirements for a position, it’s awful, and it is devastating to the pool of great candidates who may be missing one of the criteria and be denied even though they would have been fantastic. It’s killing jobs for Americans who can’t compete with foreigners who have their education subsidized. It’s all ridiculous. Shut off the H1B tap and that would end in short order as well.
Most colleges now use much cheaper adjuncts for teaching many courses.
But it is not the salaries of middling academics that has fueled the rapid rise in costs. It is all the bureaucrats and new building construction (which is done to lure big donors), but still leads to bigger costs altogether.
“federal tax law gives favorable treatment for benefits up to $5,250 annually, which has encouraged private support of tuition payments.”
That actually is taxpayer support for higher ed. I dispute that, too, as a worthy deduction, since it presumably already is counted as a full business-expense deduction from the employer side. That should be enough.
But if employers think such tuition deals and offers are worthwhile for either attracting or upgrading and keeping a better workforce, the more power to them!
And again, without even that, let young adults work their way through, first lower-cost but already in place community college, and then transferring to the associated state school for full credit transfer.
Maybe not as a whole, but it does cost the customers of those businesses offering this.
What today's yutes don't understand is nothing is free. There is a cost associated with every "benefit" provided.
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