Even educated elite must feel the pain in an era that demands shared sacrifice

RALEIGH, N.C. — When you consider how important higher education is to America’s future, budget cuts may seem like the last thing we need. But when you look at higher education budgets, bureaucracy and bloat, the need for cuts is clear. Public universities are heavily subsidized — with tuition covering only 42 percent of the total cost and taxpayers paying most of the rest. Why should middle-class workers in the private sector — many of whom never had a chance to go to college—sacrifice while administrators and faculty don’t?

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Universities have shown that they cannot hold down costs on their own. From 1990 to 2010 college tuition and fees increased more than 286 percent — even more than health care costs. And some students are drowning in debt. Legislatures have coddled universities with generous appropriations over the years, making them complacent and resistant to cost control. Whenever state budgets get tight, schools simply raise tuition. At the 16 universities in North Carolina’s state college system, for example, instate tuition was increased an average of 23 percent during the current 2010-2011 academic year over the previous year. At the University of California the figure was 32 percent. Moreover, many of our universities are doing a poor job of teaching. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy found that only 29 percent of college graduates are proficient at understanding what they read. A new book, “Academically Adrift,” by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, reveals that after four years of college 36 percent of students have learned virtually nothing. One reason for the loss of the diploma’s value is that colleges often let students slide by — getting a degree, but learning little. Certainly, some students take their courses seriously, but a recent analysis shows that college students average just 14 hours of study a week — compared with 24 hours in the 1960s. Yet, it is easier than ever to get an A. College graduates still make more money than high school graduates, but recent college graduates are struggling to find jobs. A study by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder and associates concluded that 35 percent of all college graduates are underemployed — that is, holding jobs that in many cases could be carried out with just a high school diploma. Until now it has been business as usual in most states. Legislatures have spared the universities and, over the past two years, covered the shortfalls with federal stimulus funds. The discipline of budget cuts will force university administrators to reduce costs and pay more attention to education. That attention is needed. The Department of Education reports that full-time university faculty members teach an average of 1.6 classes per semester. That’s not much. Many professors would rather do research than teach. And a lot of that research is designed to please other academics, not fill a pressing educational need. Emory University English professor Mark Bauerlein, for example, notes that between 1980 and 2006, scholars published 3,584 papers or books on William Faulkner — and 21,674 pieces on Shakespeare. Was all that really necessary when nearly 30 percent of all college graduates have trouble understanding what they read? If more students, particularly those who require remedial classes, would begin their college careers in the lower-cost community college system a state such as ours could save some $30 million to $100 million annually, without denying anybody access to higher education. In the final analysis, budget cuts make sense for three reasons: Taxpayers deserve a break; public universities need to control costs; and faculty should shift more attention to their students. Jane S. Shaw is president of the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the nation. Readers may write her at: Pope Center, 333 E. Six Forks Rd., Raleigh, NC 27609

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