Spending Inequity in Colleges Has Risen
As income inequality has increased in the United States over the last decade, so too has the gap between rich and poor colleges and universities.
Between 1999 and 2009, private research universities that enroll about 1.1 million students increased their education-related spending per student by about $7,500, to almost $36,000. But in that same period, education-related spending stayed nearly flat, at slightly more than $10,000 per student, at the public community colleges that enroll 6.7 million students, according to a report, “Trends in College Spending,” being released Wednesday.
“The growing gap between the haves and the have-nots has become much more exaggerated over the last 10 years,” said Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity and Accountability, the Washington, research group issuing the report.
While tuition has risen at public and private institutions alike, the inequality between the two sectors has grown, as the public colleges’ increased tuition revenues have not been nearly enough to make up for their loss of state and local appropriations.
Just from 2008 to 2009, the latest year for which data is available, community colleges’ net tuition increased $113, but their per-student spending declined by $254, mostly because of shrinking state and local financing. In that year, appropriations to community colleges nationwide fell an average $488 per student. At public research universities, which enroll 4.1 million students, net tuition increased by $369 - but appropriations declined by $751 per student, and spending per student increased only $92.
“If you’re trying to explain to a parent where the money’s going, it’s going into a big hole,” Ms. Wellman said. “Tuition increases are making up for less than half, on average, of what institutions lost in state funds.”
At private institutions, from 2008 to 2009, both tuition and spending have been rising. Private research universities’ per-student spending increased by $907, and private liberal arts colleges’ $298, while their net tuition increased $293 and $381, respectively.
Ms. Wellman said she did not expect any quick turnaround in state financing for public higher education.
Experts in higher education say it is difficult to imagine the nation’s returning to its former position of having the best-educated work force as long as the community colleges that educate the largest share of the population are the worst-financed sector.
“While it’s always been that way, in the last decade, like everything else, it’s been pushed to extremes,” said Patrick M. Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. “Higher education is more stratified than it’s ever been.”
The Delta Project report did find some good news. Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the share of enrolled students who complete degree and certificate program, and a decline in the number of credit hours they amass in doing so, compressing the cost of their credentials.
“There’s higher degree productivity across the board, but particularly in public institutions,” Ms. Wellman said.
nyt
Between 1999 and 2009, private research universities that enroll about 1.1 million students increased their education-related spending per student by about $7,500, to almost $36,000. But in that same period, education-related spending stayed nearly flat, at slightly more than $10,000 per student, at the public community colleges that enroll 6.7 million students, according to a report, “Trends in College Spending,” being released Wednesday.
“The growing gap between the haves and the have-nots has become much more exaggerated over the last 10 years,” said Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity and Accountability, the Washington, research group issuing the report.
While tuition has risen at public and private institutions alike, the inequality between the two sectors has grown, as the public colleges’ increased tuition revenues have not been nearly enough to make up for their loss of state and local appropriations.
Just from 2008 to 2009, the latest year for which data is available, community colleges’ net tuition increased $113, but their per-student spending declined by $254, mostly because of shrinking state and local financing. In that year, appropriations to community colleges nationwide fell an average $488 per student. At public research universities, which enroll 4.1 million students, net tuition increased by $369 - but appropriations declined by $751 per student, and spending per student increased only $92.
“If you’re trying to explain to a parent where the money’s going, it’s going into a big hole,” Ms. Wellman said. “Tuition increases are making up for less than half, on average, of what institutions lost in state funds.”
At private institutions, from 2008 to 2009, both tuition and spending have been rising. Private research universities’ per-student spending increased by $907, and private liberal arts colleges’ $298, while their net tuition increased $293 and $381, respectively.
Ms. Wellman said she did not expect any quick turnaround in state financing for public higher education.
Experts in higher education say it is difficult to imagine the nation’s returning to its former position of having the best-educated work force as long as the community colleges that educate the largest share of the population are the worst-financed sector.
“While it’s always been that way, in the last decade, like everything else, it’s been pushed to extremes,” said Patrick M. Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. “Higher education is more stratified than it’s ever been.”
The Delta Project report did find some good news. Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the share of enrolled students who complete degree and certificate program, and a decline in the number of credit hours they amass in doing so, compressing the cost of their credentials.
“There’s higher degree productivity across the board, but particularly in public institutions,” Ms. Wellman said.
nyt