UMich, $18 million on DEI, but we can't figure out why college is so expensive?

Universities have an obligation to make sure everyone gets an equal shot at an education, but I'm curious if anyone on the can actually defend this and still say college should be "free".

https://www.yahoo.com/now/university-michigan-spends-more-18-174253474.html

 

This is a major problem at all colleges and it's not just in the area of DEI.

Administrative overhead is absurd at colleges.

That said, could the university of michigan actually point to anything tangible that this $18 million dollars is getting them? I doubt it.

 

It's government in general. Like Morgan Freeman said in The Shawshank Redemption, "So young fellas like yourself can wear and suit and a tie, and have a job".

 

There’s a lot of equity and inclusion in the names of those bureaucrats.

 

Community colleges don’t have this issue and that is typically what most people are pointing to when they say “free” education paid for by tax dollars where people can get a degree to help them in their careers.

It’s similar to what people are wanting from healthcare in this country — costs need to be contained and most people are just advocates for a base level of care.

Costs would have to be reeled in with either example and who knows, maybe having a public option for people would cause some actual competition.

 

We can do that by adding four optional years to high school.

 

Why would we do that which would require a massive new build (billions of dollars) out when we already have community colleges?

 

I’ve been seeing stories about adding more years to high school for a long time. Not everyone would take those four years, some would go on to regular colleges (who hate this idea) others would join the work force.

 

This whole Diversity Multiculticulturalism thing is a scam.

Just take a look at the salaries on that list:

Diversity Equity Inclusion Manager $201,825
Academic Multicultural Director $174,053
Diversity/Inclusion Specialist $159,135
Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion $158,102
Academic Multicultural Initiative Director $156,749
Diversity/Inclusion Specialist $145,600
Diversity Equity Inclusion Manager $139,725
EEO/Diversity Leader $144,990

And this is in Michigan, the cost of living is not that high there.

 

High tuition plus government grants and funding.

 

My grandson’s first year was all kinds of social BS.

 

I don't know what informs your belief that community colleges don't have this issue. I'm looking at the LA Community College District Budget linked below. There's a chancellor, a vice chancellor, an associate vice chancellor, a deputy chancellor, a dean, an associate dean, an assistant dean, an administrative assistant to the chancellor, an administrative specialist to the chancellor, an executive assistant to the chancellor. Tell me how all that is necessary.

I'm also pretty sure I remember Bernie Sanders asking Betsy DeVos if she would commit to making university education tuition free.

https://www.laccd.edu/Departments/C...ments/2022-2023 Final Budget_10-19-22 ADA.pdf

Also, is loan forgiveness limited to community college students?

 

kinda like the war on drugs, how much do we spend on that.... and it has not slowed down drug use, it funds gangs and terrorists

 

It’s not hard to find out why college is so expensive. We alrdy know, it’s no secret. Why do we pretend like we don’t know the answers to these things? Lol astounding.

 

Segregated graduations.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/michi...aduation-celebrations-based-on-race-sexuality

 

Not university of michigan but wow....how many steps back are we going to take in this country?

 

The money is unlimited to college administrators. The tuition and fees keep rising because banks and the government are willing to burden students under debt that has little potential for a reasonable ROI. The banks have no risk as student loan debt is unbankruptable.


This was all brought about by Biden and friends, and again represents why agendas based on idealism always have adverse repercussions.

 

That's really it. There's no incentive to spend less or lower tuition. I looked at some of the backgrounds of some of the people on that list. They have degrees in things like conflict resolution, social justice, and higher education. Their LinkedIn pages actually show things like Facebook, social media, and something called facilitation as skills.

 

Well, Michigan is a state institution, which means it gets its money, or at least most of it, from state funds. Second, the $18 DEI is not the reason why college is expensive. Third, generally speaking, college is expensive mostly because of room and board, not the tuition. In addition, you have a great demand, read classical economics, where supply, the number of incoming freshmen is limited beginning with the high sporting recruits that get NCAA scholarships first, followed by National Merit scholars, finalists, and semi-finalists, legacy freshmen, and then the rest of the crowd. But private universities are far more expensive tuition-wise than public, traditional, four-year universities in a lot of cases. Bear in mind, since the 1960s, college tuition has risen some 678% in total, and that far outpaces the inflation we have had over the years in that same time period.

https://www.earnest.com/blog/why-is...ver the last 30 years,is now close to $28,000.

 

That is BS. This has been going on for decades. It is harder to get into Texas A&M than it is to get into Harvard or Yale. You may want to think about that for a moment.

 

College universities are a business now, not an institution. The new business scheme is that the moment you graduate from any college or university, you will be asked to donate to their endowment fund. But with state universities, their tuition is set by state legislatures, the board of regents, or even the state's education department, depending on the state or university. But private universities are more expensive, a hell of a lot more expensive, than state universities. And if you are considering a STEM degree, then in some cases private universities your top choice, like Rice University for instance. For some business degrees, then it may be SMU or Baylor for your undergraduate. But it could be the University of Texas at Austin, Michigan State, University of Miami, University of Southern California or whatever. The demand for college and people getting advanced degrees past secondary education. Most companies nowadays for entry-level positions will not consider a high school diploma anymore, but a general business degree in whatever. It is how you sell yourself to the employer that will either get you the job or not, even in a tight labor market.

 

Of course by itself it's not why college is expensive. But it's spending like this, in many areas, that makes it expensive.

Colleges are administrative heavy generally speaking. I work at a 2 year college where we have to be much more strict and smart with out funds and we are clearly spending too much on admin. It's not the salaries that's the problem, it's that we just don't need all the positions that we have.

And no, they don't get most of their money from the state, only a small portion (12.9%). This has been a drastic change over the last 50 years or so and is another of the causes in the tuition increases. Less from the state = more needs to come from students.

https://publicaffairs.vpcomm.umich.edu/key-issues/tuition/general-fund-budget-tutorial/

 

Spending like what? The beauracracy in college educational systems. For most, what they are getting paid to do is far less than what is done in private business of a university that size. The primary source for public universities for academics is state and local appropriations to that university. The 12.9% is the subpart of one source of funds, the general fund, in which the state subsidizes the cost. But if you look at the University's overall revenue stream, it has the following:

1. General fund 25.4%
2. Auxiliary Funds 58.2%
3. Expendable Restricted Funds 14.2%
4. Designated funds 2.2%

So, with general funds in total, 12.9% is only part of the 25.4% of the general fund. And the rest fof the general fund is mostly tuition and fees with the addition of costs recovered from research. In any case, University of Michigan's own sources of funding pretty much disprove the OP's thesis, blaming Biden or anything else that conservatives want to use instead of using their craniums for once.

https://collegeaffordability.urban....d universities rely,the 2016–17 academic year.

https://publicaffairs.vpcomm.umich.edu/key-issues/tuition/general-fund-budget-tutorial/

 

Yea the cost of college rising isn't a new thing so pinning it on Biden isn't correct. But the left refuses to hold colleges accountable for the increase in cost which is where much of the blame should be directed.

And yes, colleges waste lots of money. This thread displays one way at one college but the problem is widespread.

https://www.edmit.me/blog/the-savvy-college-consumer-how-are-colleges-spending-their-money

That's just one article on how colleges spend their money. A google search brings up loads of articles on how colleges are wasting their money. And as I've pointed out, because of the small amount they get from the state, they need to generate their own revenue to pay for all this spending.....thus the higher cost of college.

 

BS?

Why do you think tuition has been rising at rocket launch speeds?