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More Bloat
Administrative bloat continues. In a previous blog post, ACTA highlighted the work of Jay P. Greene from the Goldwater Institute, whose report found that betweeen 1993 and 2007 the number of full-time administrators increased by 39 percent, more than twice the rate of growth for academic employees, while enrollment in America's colleges and universities grew by just under 15 percent.
Last summer, at the Indiana Commision for Higher Education's first Trustee Academy, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels remarked with a note of incredulity how administrative spending per student ballooned by 61 percent over the last 15 years. There is presently one administrator for every 13 students in higher education.
A recent survey of one group of senior administrators suggests the trend continues relatively unabated.
- 43 percent of respondents "said that they were the first such employees to hold the title at their institutions."
- 51 percent of respondents "reported having annual budgets that exceed $300,000."
- More than 2/3 of respondents reported that their annual income was at least $100,000 while 14 percent reported an income in excess of $200,000.
There is no doubt that administrators play a crucial role in higher education. But schools around the country are ratcheting up tuition while slashing budgets. Can institutions dedicated to educating young people justifiably defend increasing levels of administration, which inevitably will crowd out funds otherwise available for students' academic needs? It's a question that boards of trustees should be asking themselves, and their presidents.
Posted by Max Brindle on August 17, 2011 at August 17, 2011 05:04 PM
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