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Solving the Cost Crunch
The crisis of affordability and quality in American higher education is deep, but American ingenuity is up to the challenge. As California reels from a 32% tuition increase in the UCAL system, the CA Legislative Analyst's Office released on October 25, 2010 a forward thinking report called "Using Distance Education to Increase College Access and Efficiency." While recognizing that high-quality distance education is not inexpensive, the report notes its potential for enhanced student access and cost savings. Distance education needs quality instructors and technology, but it eliminates the need for capital infrastructure (parking lots, classroom buildings), and it encourages collaborations between institutions, reducing the need for duplicative programs. High tech collaboration means, in the words of the report, "'virtual' academic departments that are taught by faculty from more than one campus." In other words, students can access quality academic programs without needing a full complement of professors in every subject at every university. The report gives some examples of such collaborations, already up and running. To glimpse the power of such programs for yourself, visit the OpenLearningInitiative. Then visit almost any state university system today, where you are likely to find nearly as many education schools, business schools, engineering schools, etc., as there are campuses- often competing with another and wasting taxpayer dollars. You are also likely to see university leadership seeking new buildings, often at state expense: the Society for College and University Planning reports that between 1974 and 2009, the amount of space per student in higher education nearly tripled. New academic programs and new buildings might be shiny trophies for an institution, but have space needs really tripled in the last thirty years, or could some of that money have been used elsewhere? ACTA has delivered this message in governor's conferences in Indiana and South Carolina and in "Cost Cutting: A Trustee's Guide to Tough Economic Times." Bravo to the California's Legislative Analyst's Office for this new report that offers timely advice to the state and the nation.
Posted by Michael Poliakoff on October 27, 2010 at October 27, 2010 02:53 PM
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