Posted on 12/30/2024 6:11:16 AM PST by Libloather
It’s no big secret that the cost of attending a four-year college or university in the United States is out of control. It’s almost gravity defying how the cost of college has increased relative to regular inflation over the past twenty years. In fact, more than 500 nonprofit private colleges have shut down in the last decade according to the Wall Street Journal, which was "three times what it was in the decade prior."
The news is about to get worse, and there is a stern warning announcement coming from the pilot in the cockpit. 2025 is going to have a lot of turbulence followed by potentially weekly plane crashes of colleges and universities who can no longer afford to open their doors. This new reality is the ultimate law of supply and demand and families in America are voting with their feet.
Enrollment
Trend experts have new terminology they call the "enrollment cliff." The number of students enrolled in degree-granting colleges and universities fell by 15% from 2010 to 2021 and only 62% of high school seniors in the U.S. immediately go on to college right now.
That’s a stark contrast to almost fifteen years ago when the number was 68% in 2010, according to government data. Many of the students who opt out of a postsecondary education are low-income students, but even those with means are beginning to choose alternatives. We’ve also seen a spike in the competition for state colleges and universities where parents can enjoy in-state tuition and other possible grant programs offered for only in-state students.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Yes, the ATC facility in Nashua handles all international flights coming from Europe. Then all domestic flights east of Cleveland.
There are many ATC people both active and retired living here in southern NH. My former electrician worked there. Until Reagan fired him. Then he retrained to become an electrician. He is now retired.
This idea sounded outlandish to me at one time, but then I had a chance to meet a top mechanical engineer who had graduated from the now-defunct General Motors Institute of Technology back in the 1970s.
The student loan mess created a subsidy to the colleges that allowed kids to go to schools they had no business attending. The colleges had to expand and “renovate” to keep up. That worked as long as the population of students kept growing.
Now, that population is declining. On top of that, the “marginal” kids who would have gone for a year and dropped out, have stopped coming. It’s a situation where two trend lines drop at the same time—causing the effect to be “doubled.”
I don’t understand how the colleges did not see this coming.
I worked for about 20 different college athletic departments. In discussions over the years with the Athletic Directors, some saw it coming. Others were oblivious. Facilities were built. Programs were expanded. The kids were catered to a four year “cruise ship” experience.
In the end, those kids graduated with bad degrees that were useless without graduate programs.
I would just shake my head. As someone who worked in the corporate world for a long time, it was clear that it wasn’t sustainable. The colleges that built things like “Pharmacy” and “Physician Assistant/NP” programs have flourished.
The universities that we just little, private, liberal arts schools have disappeared.
The only little on that failed that was a surprise was the one that offered a mortuary services degree. I figured that one would go on for a while.
My father in law was a transmission mechanic. You’re paying for knowledge, not parts.
Unless tech companies are restricted from hiring H1-b-visa foreigners at below normal salaries, a STEM degree won't help much.
More trade schools or closer association with colleges.
I used to design in software. Wood is far more fun. Did the library in soft poplar handled to keep the grain from tissue papering when stained. Cheaper. Scoured the state for boards in the back of the racks with the strangest colors and grains. Then ripped them and glued together with junk wood to make patterns on the wall. We put up many like jigsaw puzzles. It was a great year.
https://iment.com/maida/favs/house/library/
https://iment.com/maida/favs/house/bathroom/
When considering the burgeoning student debt problem and the drop in Big Education (BE) attendence, it is important to realize that there are three components in the issue. First the student, BE, and student loan access (banks, FedGov, etc). Of the three only BE has no pressure on them to control prices. They are unconcerned about their financial charges because there is no normal capitalistic influence to control prices. BE sets the price and whatever money the student has to pay will come from either the student or a financial entity.
While the money the student can personally bring to the table may be limited, the money available from student loan sources is virtually unlimited. This allows the BE to gouge it’s applicants because what is the student going to do? The student must pay up front therefore he must have access to financial aid before even applying for classes.
Next is the fact that because BE has it’s money before any services are rendered, there is no pressure to produce a product that will allow the student to repay his education debt. The bottom line is that there are no supply and demand forces brought to bear on BE.
The quickest remedy is to bring BE into the financial equation. Make BE a significant part of any financial lending needed by the student. And make sure that when the student starts repaying the loan, the BE is last in line to receive repayment funds. The other sources of the student loan, personal or borrowed from a financial entity, are paid off first. This gives BE a stake in the quality of the student education.
Virginia has been attracting wealthy New England kids for decades.
The universities were seen as a cheap alternative to the insanely expensive private colleges in New England. (But not anymore)
I know because my family is from one of those unfashionable little towns in the southwest corner, a couple of miles from Tennessee.
I was a permanent full time university professor at a state university with a unionized faculty for many years.
They rearranged my schedule so all my classes taught were on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Full time meant 10 hrs per week of teaching, 28 weeks per year.
My office hours were between my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I did not set foot on campus other days.
I had two other businesses that I ran at the same time.
I often joked that after teaching at the university, I would never get a real job. Actually felt guilty taking a paycheck the work was so easy.
There was no pressure to publish.
It’s no wonder the cost of attending a university is so high.
A private university tried to hire me and the pay scale was so low in comparison to the public university, it was no go.
“Young people can work in trades and realistic careers.”
Was visiting central america and there was a small community college in a town where we stayed. Our hosts said their studies are strictly for trades, plumbing, electrical, construction, nurse, dental and pharmacy assistants. All classes for careers no liberal arts.
Absolutely.
My dad was an engineer, a “fix anything” sort - I remember taking apart a transmission with him one time and was surprised at all of the many parts and how complex it was. We cleaned each component and dad put it back together. Worked like new...
Less kids too.
I wonder how many leftist profs and employees had large families? 4 plus kids?
Stunning! Quite a place you have there, with so many beautiful wood selections!
Sooo...the Dorms can now be used to house the “homeless”
The same for me...
I took drafting in high school and liked it.
Continued at a no-frills state trade school.
Following gaining my certificate, I went to work as a draftsman.
Draftsman morphed into computer aided drafting & design.
I took occasional tech courses to keep up with industry advances.
I comfortably retired July 2017.
Ha, ain't that the truth.
I’ll be sure to tell that to my aerospace engineer son who’s starting a new job designing satellites in a couple weeks at $165,000 a year.
They should be Empty Nester Lifestyle Learning day carecenters. These kids can’t address a proper envelope.
There used to be IBM school and BANK school and INSURANCE school where companies sent likely candidates.
They were very successful
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