A colleague texted me a link to this clip from a recent CBS News story entitled "The Price You Pay: The Spiraling Cost of College". I'm embedding the segment below, starting at the 1:10 mark (but feel free to watch in its entirety). Check it:
I have to take issue with one key thing in this report; the host picked seemingly random spots on College Avenue to "survey" Penn State students.
A colleague texted me a link to this clip from a recent CBS News story entitled "Sorry to bother you. Hey, I've got a quick question: raise your hand if you're from Pennsylvania.
Nevermind that this statement is a statement and not a question. More importantly, it is also not scientific.
Tony Dokoupil questions (as best as I can tell from the clip) approximately seven students at a CATA bus stop, and only one is from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Quick math: that's 14 percent of the students "surveyed". Ouch. That really looks bad.
But hey, all institutions of higher education have thing cool thing called a Common Data Set. Penn State's is HERE. At the Common Data Set you can find all sorts of interesting... well... data about the institution. Things like the University Factbook that describes in nuanced detail student residency:
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| source: Penn State Factbook |
Even at the University Park campus - the largest and arguably most visible nationally - there is a 15 percent difference in in- versus out-of-state students.
[Note: This is only the undergraduate data, as that is what the segment seems to be focused upon. If you're interested in the whole kit and kaboodle, hit that info here.]
But of course this data doesn't support the picture that Mr. Dokoupil is trying to paint: we universities spend SO much money that we have to intentionally focus our efforts on students that will pay a higher tuition rate (i.e. out-of-state and international students). Granted, the appearance of over-indulgence at LSU with the "lazy river" is an on-the-nose example of that.
So what are colleges doing with all of your extra money? Some of it goes to teaching of course. But most does not.
What "extra" money? The students' tuition dollars? How is that "extra"? And where is your data to support the assertion that it's not going to teaching? How much is some? How much is most? The questions go on and on...
In the interview portion with Dr. Renu Khator, the president and chancellor of the University of Houston, he asks why institutions don't scale some things back to keep the cost of tuition down. Given that question, I find it interesting that he didn't report on or even mention the fact that in July the Penn State Board of Trustees APPROVED A TUITION FREEZE FOR PENNSYLVANIA STUDENTS FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW:
Penn State trustees have approved a 2019-20 budget that would freeze undergraduate tuition rates for Pennsylvania resident students at all campuses for the second straight year, and the third time in the last five years.
The total cost of attendance will still increase about 1 percent due to previously approved housing and dining services increases, but Penn State President Eric Barron called the proposed tuition freeze a key part of his plan to keep Penn State affordable to as many Pennsylvanians as possible.
Sorry. Am I yelling?
Are out-of-state and international students important to the life of an institution? Yes. Do colleges and universities develop strategic recruitment initiatives to target out-of-state and international students? Absolutely. However, that does NOT mean that a land-grant institution like Penn State is only enrolling those higher-paying populations.
I will certainly concede that there are areas in higher education where plenty of criticism is worthy; the rising costs of tuition and the salaries for executives and coaches, to name a couple. But I believe that the part of this segment where he targets Penn State is not one such area that is worthy. Data is fun, perhaps Mr. Dokoupil should have actually included some in his reporting while he was on campus.
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