As the financial markets and tax revenues tumble, states like California are making steep cuts to education including cuts to the support for state-run colleges like the University of California (UC) and the California State Universities (CSU). The budget that will be signed today imposes a 10 percent across-the-board cut to the UCs and CSUs, saving $264.4
million.
California is not alone. Massachussetts is planning 11.6 percent in cuts for their state colleges. Florida is starting at 4 percent but more cuts are planned. New York state is cutting between 6 and 7 percent. Google the phrase "xxx budget cuts to colleges" and insert your state for xxx and you'll see what you are facing.
This means college administrators will soon be living the fable presented by John Lombardi of Louisiana State University at his blog "Reality Check" called "Budget Crisis, Academic Change:A Fable"!
I STRONGLY recommend that everyone who cares about higher education - both inside and outside the education "industry" - read Lombardi's blog. How you react to the story will help you understand why there is no clear path to making colleges more accountable and affordable! Politics, political correctness, turf wars, protectionism, etc., etc., keeps the colleges stuck where they are.
What do you think is going to be cut by the all these colleges? What do you think should be done? What sacrifices/changes can be made? One thing for sure, aid will go down, class size will go up, space for new students will go down, services will go down, and tuition will go up!
As the daughter of a college dean, I understand the desire to protect and provide resources that serve more intangible needs like obscure languages, art and music. But when your children are starving, having a Monet on the wall is probably NOT the best use of your resources.
This brings me back to my question to the social media universe - "What is College For"? What should we focus on in these times? What should money be spent on?
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