The idea of colleges raising tuition based on the willingness of families to pay is poorly conceived. Cost and quality must fit together. Any other viewpoint is wrong academically. And equally important, it makes bad business: It may work, butā¦
No two universities are the same. No university was the same last year as it will be next year. Ditto for students. “The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each timeā¦
Tenth in the series, Follow the money From Boston to Austin and Oxford, Mississippi, to West Lafayette, Indiana, big and small, prosperous or starving, universities are married to communities, for better or worse. When one hurts, both do. āThe relationshipā¦
Ninth in the series, Follow the money Confidence is like capital; it can be accumulated, invested or saved, and spent. When universities are well-tuned, a two-way flow of confidence occurs from outside the institution, inward, and from within the institution,ā¦
Eighth in the series, Follow the money Retirements trim budgets. Retirements without assessment of individual contribution to attaining mission may reduce operating costs. Important as that is in an environment of scarcity, budget trimming alone represents a wanting accomplishment ifā¦
Seventh in the series, Follow the money A campus is more than buildings, but nothing without them. An Internet address? Maybe. Campus buildings, monuments, stadiums, digs and castles, are worth little without collected cultural, scientific and artistic insight and aā¦
Sixth in the series, Follow the money Research produces knowledge that changes the world. Its value, for the often slow result of careful investigation, is both difficult to forecast and impossible to calibrate. For, behind the scenes, halfway around theā¦
Fifth in the series, Follow the money Only a small fraction of the U.S. student population attends the 103 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) universities. At other schools, college athletics is a whole different ballgame. Where does this focus on theā¦
Fourth in the series Follow the Money Giving is always the result of leadership, from giver and recipient. Private givingās absence results from a lack of university leadership. State funding is critical, but private giving separates the good from theā¦
Third in the series Follow the Money Any expert in efficiency will tell you the same thing: āDo it right the first time.ā Doing it a second time costs twice as much. 1 + 1 = 2 Perhaps the mostā¦
Second in the series Follow the Money Money flows into universities because it is good for the people who lend, and who profit from it. Sometimes, it is even good for the people who borrow. Sometimes. Money you’ve got lotsā¦
College costs are escalating for a number of reasons, but first among them is that there are resources available to pay for increases. Even that great baby-boomer sage, The Beaver, got it – Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver: I could use myā¦
The university is a mirror of, or window to, the world. St. Paul suggested to the Church of Corinth that at times we āsee through the glass darkly.ā Things are not as sharp or bright as they should be. Soā¦
Universities are defined by their traditions. They can take many forms, some positive, and some negative, but all communities have traditions shaped by citizens who reside there, and a university is a community. Traditions cannot be regulated or imposed, butā¦
Unbridled, ill-conceived, or poorly implemented regulation often creates undesirable outcomes. Legislators refer to such results as unintended consequences. Sometimes, such consequences are the result of well-meant actions, imposed by parties unfamiliar with the underlying complexity of a situation. When assumptionsā¦
Competition for ideas is unlike competition for anything else.Ā If we compete to harvest the most gold, we find a limited supply.Ā Fastest person, physiology sets in.Ā Universities should compete for ideas, and those ideas will generate new resources. Weā¦
The relationship of a student to the university is a bit like a marriage. The idea of that relationship is shifting as George Bernard Shaw predicted it would. As with marriage, the university experience is becoming a contractualĀ affiliation rather thanā¦
