The United States Department of Education is chastising American universities for their tuition hikes.
This from CNN today.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Roughly 530 colleges across the country will soon have to submit special reports to Uncle Sam, explaining why their tuition and student fees have recently surged.
For the first time ever the Department of Education released a list Thursday morning, ranking colleges with the steepest tuition hikes.
The report lists the top 5% of schools with the sharpest tuition increases over a three-year period for several categories. By law, the worst offenders will now be required to submit special reports to the government, explaining why costs have gone up so dramatically, and how they plan to address rising prices.
Of course, this is terrible news, but colleges and universities can't print money. Has the Department of Education noticed this?
Governor Tom Corbett signed the state’s 2011-2012 budget Thursday with minutes to spare before the midnight deadline.
The $27.15 billion budget, which cuts overall spending by more than $1 billion, passed the House Wednesday night with a vote of 109-92 and passed in the state Senate Tuesday afternoon. The budget included 19 percent cuts to the appropriations for Pitt and other state-related universitie
And this?
Facing a persistent budget gap, the California legislature yesterday passed an austere budget that will bring yet more financial pain to the already cash-strapped state university system. The University of California (UC) and California State University were already bracing for a total of $500 million apiece in cuts, but the new budget passed last night cuts an additional $150 million from each
And this?
Steve Tallant, president of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, said that state budget cuts will hit particularly hard at universities like his, with a large number of low-income students.
At this largely Hispanic-serving institution southeast of Corpus Christi, 85 percent of students are on financial aid and 49 percent receive Texas Grants.
“These students will be the most directly impacted by the budget cuts,” he said in an interview with the Texas Independent. “I am concerned that these students simply won’t go to college. Also, we tend to have students who are not well prepared for college. We will have to cut back on our developmental programs, which involve lots of small classes. We will have to go to bigger classes. Our enrollment is up 11.4 percent, but that doesn’t mean the students are going to come.”
Even so, he said A&M-Kingsville is weathering the austerity measures remarkably well, making it an anomaly among Texas universities. Increased enrollment figures have brought it increased funds that will allow the university to survive this year’s budget cuts without much suffering, Tallant said.
“My concern is not this budget,” he said. “My concern is the budget two years from now. The university will lose close to $15 million in funding over the next two years.”
I could go on and on. There are fifty states after all.
Colleges and universities have two or three significant sources of revenue.
1) Tuition and fees from students
2) Government funding if they are public institutions (Yes, private institutions often get government funding in the form of grants, but this almost always goes toward special projects, not daily operating expenses)
3) Gifts from donors (These are often very generous, but they tend to go toward capital projects, endowed chairs, and scholarship programs. Again, not daily operating costs - most people do not want to make a donation to pay the electric bill or the salaries of support staff. In addition, the recession has destbalized endowment funds and decreased additional giving.)
In the end, #1 is the only one the schools really have control over. So, Arne, you can criticize all you want, but do you have another idea?