College costs too much and its costs must be forced down as part of any economic recovery plan.
For most undergraduate degrees the course program is set and standardized. There is no reason for full professors to be teaching basic courses at most schools, and in fact few do. The edifice complex of state universities can and should end. And it’s time to bring the Internet into the picture in a serious way.
I recently did a piece at ZDNet on college textbooks and this is just one area of incredible froth in the delivery of the service. Kids are being charged hundreds of dollars per course for printed textbooks, in addition to the cost of classes, and it doesn’t have to be that way.
The key to change is giving professors at better deal, and that’s where Flat World Knowledge is aiming its pitch. Kids get access to free texts, but professors get 20% of all ancillary rights — printed textbooks, Kindle textbooks, online coursework based on the textbook. All these can be offered at prices much lower than students now pay. And at the end of the day the authors wind up with texts they can update on demand, along with just as much money in their pockets as they had before.
This is just one example. The shortage of distance learning options from top-rated schools is a scandal. Phoenix University and its competitors offer a quality product, but they can’t gain traction because the "big schools" have the prestige and continue to charge a monopoly price.
When I say a monopoly price I’m serious. Even with its recent endowment haircut Harvard still has enough income to give away its basic product, an undergraduate education, thanks to the gains of the past and the money it brings in research. Instead it continues to charge $40,000 per year and limit enrollment. That’s the kind of behavior I expect from AT&T, not an organization dedicated to the public good.
So let me offer some modest proposals:
- Standardize the undergraduate curriculum as high school curricula
are standardized, only on a national level. If you want to offer
special courses in specific subjects, fine — but everyone starts the
competition from the same level playing field. - Standardize the delivery of this coursework in online formats so it’s available to everyone.
- Standardize, as much as possible, the advanced coursework of our
top colleges and let people attend schools like Harvard and Stanford
with a minimum of on-campus time.
- Examine state college requests for construction just as you would
a hospital’s request for a new building — based on societal needs.
- Get rid of the BCS or spin it out into the professional league it
actually is. There is no excuse for a few dozen schools to scam
billions off consumers, pay the people who do the work nothing, and
then fund multi-million dollar salaries to coaches. It distracts from
the education mission.
We need accountability. We need results. We need a work force that is
drastically more highly-trained than the one we have. And we need it
now.
Colleges and universities should be forced to comply with this basic
societal demand. That is supposed to be their mission. Someone needs to
make it happen.
Your point about the exorbitant cost of college textbooks is right on.
But you shouldn’t pick on Harvard. In fact, families making less than 60k/yr don’t have to pay anything for a Harvard education, and even families making up to 180k are expected to contribute less than 18k/yr for tuition. (Unfortunately, Harvard instituted this policy after I graduated, so I’m still repaying MY loans.) It’s a step in the right direction, though. I know Stanford also instituted a similar policy.
Your point about the exorbitant cost of college textbooks is right on.
But you shouldn’t pick on Harvard. In fact, families making less than 60k/yr don’t have to pay anything for a Harvard education, and even families making up to 180k are expected to contribute less than 18k/yr for tuition. (Unfortunately, Harvard instituted this policy after I graduated, so I’m still repaying MY loans.) It’s a step in the right direction, though. I know Stanford also instituted a similar policy.
I think that students who wanted to take up doctor in education is turned off by the high tuition cost, considering that they also have to pay for laboratory fees, textbooks and uniforms amounting the total cost to about hundred thousand of dollars. In today’s economic crunch, nobody is willing or even have that amount of money available to spare. I think these universities should be willing to standardize the level of education so that students and parents can afford it. With the standardization of the level of education, students can have access to the same education regardless of whether they are enrolled in Harvard or Stanford.
I think that students who wanted to take up doctor in education is turned off by the high tuition cost, considering that they also have to pay for laboratory fees, textbooks and uniforms amounting the total cost to about hundred thousand of dollars. In today’s economic crunch, nobody is willing or even have that amount of money available to spare. I think these universities should be willing to standardize the level of education so that students and parents can afford it. With the standardization of the level of education, students can have access to the same education regardless of whether they are enrolled in Harvard or Stanford.