Posted on 08/12/2020 7:57:27 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Ive been tempted to tweak my liberal friends with the mischievous thought that COVID-19 is actually a Trump five-dimensional chess plot to destroy universities, unionized K-12 public education, and Hollywood (since TV and movie production is largely shut down too).
Colleges and universities were already facing mounting financial pressure because enrollment is steadily declining and certain to get much worse in the coming decade (the result of falling birthrates back at the time of the housing crash in 2008-09). Add to this the financial hit they are taking right now because of the virus, on top of the huge loss this year of foreign students who typically pay full tuition rates and subsidize other students, and a large number of colleges and universities face a serious risk of insolvency. (There are many colleges for whom a large foreign student enrollmentespecially Chinese studentsis a key part of their business model.)
This week it is reported that 20 percent of Harvard freshmen are deferring a year; at other colleges, the rate of students saying they arent returning runs as high as 40 percent. At places further down the food chain than Harvard, how many students will decide not to go to college at all a year from now?
Now add todays news that major college football isnt going to happen, and you have the making of a death spiral for many colleges. Even schools that arent football powerhouses like Ohio State are going to take a huge hit from this, as football even at second-tier universities is still a money maker.
Ticket sales and TV revenues are one thing; football, and to a lesser extent basketball, are huge magnets for alumni donations, and if theres no football, theres no fancy skybox game day parties for college presidents to schmooze donors. And since huge football revenues cross-subsidize all the other sports, look for the sports portfolios of many colleges to collapse. Some schools, like Stanford, have already cut a large number of sports.
This could happen very fast. I expect by spring many colleges will be downsizing fast, and some will fold up. Will they cut administrative bloat and the politicized departments of gender studies? More likely, if there is a Biden Administration, a bailout of higher education will be a line-item in an infrastructure bill, which Democrats will call investment in education.
Universities are a huge waste of money now, especially in the non-technical disciplines.
Better start viewing the world through an entirely different prism.
It’s evolving at warp speed.
RE: Universities are a huge waste of money now, especially in the non-technical disciplines.
Many Antifa members were educated at our universities.
Peak Brick and Mortar Higher Edumacation.
Or drive a sanitation truck.
Oh, How I hate, Ohio State [it's a know nothing Party School] is NOT a Foosball PH?
Comma placement [or lack thereof] can make a Yuge difference in understanding to meaning of English.
Just sayin’...
[[[Universities are a huge waste of money now, especially in the non-technical disciplines.]]]
Have an acquaintance that blew through almost 300K for her daughter’s 4 year degree at Syracuse. I forgot what the degree (studies) was in but I remember saying to myself that it was a bullsh** degree. Nothing in the professions or engineering/technical for sure.
Nothing is worth that kind of money otherwise. Going to graduate school now. They’ll be into it for half a mil by the time its done with. Unbelievable.
Defund these Marxist education camps.
Even a third tier University like Ole Miss will feel like the pinch from no college football this year
It’s a 5-dimensional move alright, but not by President Trump.
It’s been said before, and bears repeating, that the colleges and universities are business entities, which need to balance their budgets.
Even state supported colleges are discrete business entities, which will likely see less state aid, and thus have trouble balancing their budgets.
It’s true. And as manufacturing returns we’re going to need a lot more technically trained people. Not just engineers but material scientists, quality assurance, technicians, maintenance, and yes, even bean counters!
But not many gender studiers or English majors. Sorry, Garrison Keillor...
Mutt, you wouldn’t be a supporter of that university in Starkville, Mississippi, now would you ?
Just takin’ a wild guess.....
The true economic fundamentals of college are not sustainable. Costs soar but productivity never increases.
Warren Buffett said something like, when hard times hit you soon realize what companies have been swimming naked. Same goes for Universities now.
Yes, the death spiral has started. Not for Harvard. Not for Princeton. They will survive but they will lose half their endowment. Most of the other private colleges will close.
Um, Steven - you need to get out of the house more. THE Ohio State is one of premier football colleges in the country.
Ole Miss is transitioning from a Plantation school to a Marxist indoctrination center.
Don’t forget. Every good indoctrination center ( aka university ) has to have multiple layers of needless bureaucracy, such as “ diversity “ czars.
Flush that money right down the commode.
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