... And tuition bills

Maybe the price of everything is going up because the federal government does not collect sufficient taxes to pay its bills and our money is not worth as much as in the past when oil was less expensive.

The government needs to cut back. We are taxed more than enough.

College could choose to cut costs, or use some of the alumni support- especially larger colleges like VT and UVA.

Whenever the government purchases things and services, the price of those things and services tends to go up.

This creates the illusion that more government assistance is essential.

Keeping up with the Joneses. The professors need tenure *and* a 10% salary hike.

The university president needs a near seven figure value residence.

All of this is absolutely necessary so they can attract students?

Please.

College is a product that sells itself. They're raising tuition because they know that the gravy train from Washington, and lenders dying to have students paying well into their 40s, will support any increases the universities desire.

Meanwhile, the aging hippies running academia will continue to wine and dine in the name of education at taxpayer and student expense.

It's a charmed life.

Hurdboy has a point. Most tenured professors don't teach and have guaranteed jobs for life. They are the ultimate example of socialism. As for costs rising, live with it. College is not a right - especially since the majority of graduates take 6 years to do a 4 year course and need a liver transplant before they move back home with Mommy and Daddy while waiting for the right job to come along. There are plenty of programs (military, medical) that will pay for college - but you must work hard and commit yourself for 5 years post graduation. The average eternally lazy alcoholic college student of today lacks the drive to do so. So don't go and get another life working at McDonalds.

you are wrong wrote:

The government needs to cut back. We are taxed more than enough.

We need to balance the budget. The price of oil is up for two reasons: the value of the dollar has dropped and speculators are bidding up the price of oil futures in the hope of making money. Same reason as the housing bubble.

Just a thought wrote:

Maybe the price of everything is going up because the federal government does not collect sufficient taxes to pay its bills and our money is not worth as much as in the past when oil was less expensive.

Or better yet, maybe they should not have so many bills! It's not their income that is the problem it is their out-go!

Just a thought wrote:

Maybe the price of everything is going up because the federal government does not collect sufficient taxes to pay its bills and our money is not worth as much as in the past when oil was less expensive.

No...they get plenty of tax money. They just spend it like drunken sailors during fleet week. They need to cut back on all the entitlement programs in this country, and on the amount of $$$ we send to overseas governments.

hurdboy wrote:

Keeping up with the Joneses. The professors need tenure *and* a 10% salary hike.
The university president needs a near seven figure value residence.
All of this is absolutely necessary so they can attract students?
Please.
College is a product that sells itself. They're raising tuition because they know that the gravy train from Washington, and lenders dying to have students paying well into their 40s, will support any increases the universities desire.
Meanwhile, the aging hippies running academia will continue to wine and dine in the name of education at taxpayer and student expense.
It's a charmed life.

You know, for such an "educated" community, they can't see the writing on the wall when the average "Joe" may earn 3% to 4% a year while the average tuition jumps 6% to 12%, Hey, I can figure out whats going to happen....

I am a professor at the College of William and Mary. My life is good, I wouldn't want anyone to think otherwise, but let us get our facts straight: there have been no 10% raises in Virginia academics for more than 20 years; we are not socialists, we are very much free market players and we know that we can easily leave Virginia for better pay and benefits elsewhere; the students in college drink less on average than young people the same aga not in college; the presidents benefits including housing benefits are also a free market and Virginia college presidents are paid about the national average. Tenure is probably a difficult topic to defend in a short post but it has benefits and costs and, again, the free market demands it (very few qualified individuals apply for faculty jobs at the schools like Babson that don't offer tenure, in fact W&M b-school has recently hired one from Babson despite paying slightly less because he wanted a tenure-track position).

Wake up Hurdboy, most tenured faculty DO teach full course loads. In fact, the tenured faculty at CNU are teaching more classes than new "tenure-track" hires because the national market for attractive, high-performing new professors (fresh out of grad school) is so competitive.
There is an arms race in VA and the nation for the best dorms, facilities, faculty, FOOD, etc.
You might save a few dollars by cutting the football program at DIV. I-AA, Div II, and Div III schools.

Has anyone done the math to see if the cost of higher education is in line with inflation?

Regarding costs of higher education and inflation, the fact is that the costs of higher education are going up faster than general inflation but very much inline with other similar products (high tech services and goods such as software, medical services, etc). David Feldman and Bob Archibald have written a cogent paper (see http://dhfeld.people.wm.edu/cwm_wp53 (TunnelVision).pdf) on the fact that education is increasing in cost only at the same rate that other similar products and services in our economy are similarly increasing -- and in fact that is because education competes for resources (human and technological) in those very same free markets. Bond is correct that senior faculty teach higher loads than junior untenured faculty because of the market forces -- it is very difficult to hire junior faculty in the fields that add the most direct value (technology, hard sciences, and business). The arts do not have the same inflationary forces but may have far greater long-term social value (I'm a business professor -- I don't argue with free markets happily).

hurdboy wrote:

Keeping up with the Joneses. The professors need tenure *and* a 10% salary hike.
The university president needs a near seven figure value residence.
All of this is absolutely necessary so they can attract students?
Please.
College is a product that sells itself. They're raising tuition because they know that the gravy train from Washington, and lenders dying to have students paying well into their 40s, will support any increases the universities desire.
Meanwhile, the aging hippies running academia will continue to wine and dine in the name of education at taxpayer and student expense.
It's a charmed life.

You do know that adjuncts are paid so little that most work two jobs, correct? I have a friend working as an adjunct and she's getting only 25,000 a year to not only teach seven or more classes but to also tutor AND mentor.
Aren't you a product of the "hippie" academia?
I agree that asking for such a house is ridiculous. If the prezzie of CNU wants to wine and dine prospective donors, he can do so at the Ferguson Center or in one of the dining halls that actually looks nice. There is no excuse for spending money like that on something so frivolous and down right stupid.