Larry D. Lauer

Everyone is concerned about the cost of higher education. Make no mistake, institutions are concerned too.  But finding solutions will be difficult.

The president’s recent proposal that institutions that fail to keep tuition low will be punished by receiving less student financial aid will only be constructive if it leads to honest industry and government dialogue. Otherwise, it sets a totally negative tone, and demonstrates no comprehension of the management realities facing today’s colleges and universities. 

First, it must be acknowledged that diversity of type is what distinguishes US academic institutions in all the world. Second, that diversity means that even now there is a quality institution somewhere accessible to most everyone desiring an education. That said, virtually every institution I know is also working hard to cut expenses, and to keep its net price as low as possible.

For solutions to be found, it must first be acknowledged that each institution has a different set of factors each year that determine budget and pricing.  For example, each  one  serves a specific market, and must respond to the expectations of those in that market. For many, maintaining a high level of academic productivity with top performing faculty and state of the art facilities is expensive. Also, certain types of programs cost more to offer than others, and so financial parameters will vary widely among institutions.

For everyone the cost of maintaining buildings and grounds moves higher every year. When utilities and vendors increase prices, everything else is affected. Universities are really small cities and have similar constantly increasing maintainance challenges. And it also must be noted that costs driven by the need to monitor and comply with over 25 categories of government regulations is counterproductive to keeping costs lows.     

An acknowledgement that each institution is different, that government-funded financial aid is critical, that the amount of regulation should reconsidered, and that universities are capable of creative cost-cutting initiatives, is the constructive way forward. As with so many of the issues facing this country, if government and higher education  will  accept that each has a role to play in this solution, and will sit down together to collaborate, I have no doubt that we can make higher education available to everyone.