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THE AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION MESS AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT by F. King Alexander President California State University, Long Beach California State University, Fullerton February 22, 2012. Brief Federal HE History (1965-2012). The last “Great Debate” in higher education
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THE AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION MESS AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT by F. King Alexander President California State University, Long BeachCalifornia State University, Fullerton February 22, 2012
Brief Federal HE History (1965-2012) • The last “Great Debate” in higher education • ESEA (1965) and HEA (1972) • What has happened since 1972 • Public vsPrivate battle • Demand for student aid (loan explosion, Pell, SSIG, Direct Lending, etc.) • Tuition reliance, spending races, and the maximization of institutional prestige • State abandonment of higher educ. responsibility
The American Higher Education Messfrom the Policy Point of View • Good & Bad Institutions: Tuition and fees • Good & Bad Institutions: Expenditure Race • Good & Bad Institutions: Institutional commitment to public goods/outcomes • Good & Bad States: Federal reliance and state disinvestment • Good & Bad State Funding Formulas: history, not outcomes, efficiencies, or public missions
Chart 3: Total Education & General Expenditures Per FTE Source: Delta Cost Project (2008 Data)
Lowest 20 Universities in Educational & General Expenditures Per FTE , 2009-10(Public Universities with at least 15,000 students, #103) Source: Education Trust, 2009
Chart 6: Total Degrees & Spending Per Outcome Source: Delta Cost Project (2008 Data)
Chart 7: Percentage of Pell Freshmen Students Source: Education Trust (2008 Data)
Chart 8: Top 30 in % Pell among Freshman (Public Universities with at least 15,000 students, #103) Source: Education Trust , 2009
ESEA vs HEA The public policy dilemma: Universities with the most expensive students, charge the least, receive less state support, and therefore, spend less on these students. While universities with the least expensive students, have more resources allocated for their educational benefit
President Obama & DoE Proposals • Federal Student Financial Aid is “unsustainable” • Protect Pell • Create a new “MOE” to pressure states • Reward good institutions for keeping costs down, thus prices, educating more Pell students, & punish those that do not. • Extend AOTC ($20 billion) • Keep student loan interest at 3.4% not 6.8% • Implement “College Scorecard” (CSU “Public Good” page) • Force states to fund all aspects of higher ed. appropriately (state student aid programs