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Getting a "lock" on tuition
One does not need to be an expert on higher education policy or economics to know that the rise in college costs far outpaces the general cost of living. But there are promising signs on the horizon that a few institutions have begun to realize the need to rein in tuition.
According to US News and World Report, a number of schools are offering to "lock" tuition for freshmen, guaranteeing a fixed rate for all four years of attendance. Some colleges and universities, such as Baylor University and Niagara University, charge above-average tuition rates or other fees up front in return for shielding students and their families from subsequent hikes. Others guarantee a fixed tuition rate for free; these include the George Washington University and public universities in Illinois. Still others, like Middlebury and Vanderbilt, allow parents to scrape together enough money to prepay for all four years at their son or daughter's freshman year tuition rate.
Such efforts are surely steps in the right direction. More however remains to be done. Locking in tuition for one group of freshmen does not address the issue of rising tuition rates for subsequent classes, nor does it address the question of how college costs became so high in the first place. Colleges and universities must also examine whether their spending on administration, athletics, and country club-style campus amenities truly advance the academic mission of their institutions.
Likewise, they must ask whether their course offerings and curricula advance the goal of creating broadly-educated, knowledgeable graduates capable of succeeding in the workplace and in the public square. Is the curriculum bloated with hundreds of niche, trivial courses that serve the idiosyncratic interests of a handful of tenured faculty, or does it promote a common, coherent body of knowledge for undergraduates?
Now is the time for trustees and higher education leaders to seriously address these questions.
Posted by Sandra Diaz on May 24, 2010 at May 24, 2010 05:46 PM
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