It's Time For Public Colleges To Slash Costs, Not Educational Value

Forbes

5 days ago

Closeup of checkbook and graduation tassel representing the soaring costs of a college ... More education.Please see some similar pictures from my portfolio:
Facing plummeting revenues, declining enrollments, and strained state budgets, public universities stand at a crossroads. We can continue down the path of unsustainable spending and relentless tuition hikes, or we can seize this crisis as the catalyst for long-overdue, fundamental cost reform. As an educator and administrator who witnessed the pernicious effects of unfocused cuts during the 2008 recession, I argue forcefully for the latter. Here's how public colleges can start:
The spectacle of public university presidents earning over $1 million with incentives, while football coaches command $5 million salaries plus private jets, country club memberships, and lavish perks, is not justifiable – it's obscene. Solution:Institute a hard cap on total compensation for all public university employees, including presidents and coaches. A $350,000 ceiling is a reasonable starting point for debate. The billions poured into elite athletics programs, particularly outside of profitable sports in the revenue-generating Power Five conferences, represent a profound misallocation of public funds that directly contributes to soaring student costs.
Universities have engaged in decades of facility one-upmanship, featuring luxury dorms, resort-style recreation centers, gourmet food courts, and constant new construction. This competition with private elites for a "boutique" student experience, funded by taxpayer dollars and student debt, must stop. Solution: Mandate rigorous audits that prioritize maintenance over new construction and focus spending on core academic infrastructure. Public colleges should compete on value and outcomes, not luxuries.
The vast machinery of admissions – glossy brochures, armies of recruiters crisscrossing the country, sophisticated enrollment management systems – consumes enormous resources with questionable ROI. While high school visits are appreciated, their necessity and effectiveness are debatable. Solution: Regional public colleges should significantly reduce their admissions budgets. Focus resources on regional college fairs, efficient application processing, and clear digital information. For Division III public schools, eliminate athletic recruiting budgets – let them play with the students they have.
Does every public university in a state system need its under-enrolled department for obscure majors? No. Solution:Create robust state-wide consortia to strategically distribute low-demand majors to specific campuses, eliminating redundant departments, faculty lines, and support staff. This preserves access while cutting waste. Pennsylvania and Vermont have merged colleges and resources to minimize this redundancy.
Prioritize Academic Efficiency in the Classroom
While small, specialized seminars (like my son's 3-person Turkish class) offer unique value, they are unsustainable luxuries for core offerings. Solution: Implement minimum teaching loads for full-time faculty. Aggressively audit course offerings, consolidating or eliminating chronically under-enrolled classes. Protect class sizes in high-demand core disciplines.
Rethink Financial Aid Priorities
Public funds subsidizing merit scholarships for students without financial need divert resources from those who genuinely require assistance—solution: End non-need-based merit aid. Redirect every dollar towards need-based grants and lowering tuition for all.
Freeze Tuition & Demand Federal Partnership
Purdue University, under President Mitch Daniels, froze tuition for nine consecutive years (and the Board has continued this to present), proving it's possible. Rutgers, my state university, charges in-state students over $15,000, 50% more than Purdue. Solution: Mandate aggressive cost-cutting to enable multi-year tuition freezes across public systems. Furthermore, the federal government must step up with an-
Affordable Education Act.
Modeled on healthcare subsidies, this would require families to contribute to public college costs based on income/assets, with the federal government covering the gap. This relieves states of unsustainable aid burdens.
For over three decades, public college costs have skyrocketed at twice the rate of inflation, fueled by unrestrained spending justified by the need to "compete." This competition, however, has often focused too much on superficial amenities and administrative bloat rather than educational substance.
My son wrote in high school opposing a local school budget that was heavily invested in new turf fields and labs. What students honestly need, he wrote, are "old-fashioned great teachers teaching in reasonably sized classes." His youthful clarity cuts through the noise: Public higher education must rediscover its core mission. It must compete ruthlessly on delivering an affordable, high-quality education that prepares students for the future, not on providing country club memberships for coaches funded by debt. Let's rebuild a public higher education system defined by value, accessibility, and fiscal sanity. Our students' futures—and our nation's—depend on it.