The Struggles of Poor College Students

Jason DeParle's "For Poor, Leap to College often Ends in a Hard Fall" (NY Times, December 22, 2012) is a compelling piece of journalism on the growing crisis of college debt, especially for poor students with little safety net. Following three girls from Texas who made a pact to go to college and "not end up working at WalMart," the story puts a face to what the Times's statistics show is an increasingly common experience for college students from poor backgrounds.  As DeParle argues, the story of the struggle for higher education among the poor is actually the story of "the growing role that education plays in preserving class divisions." As he writes:

Poor students have long trailed affluent peers in school performance, but from grade-school tests to college completion, the gaps are growing. With school success and earning prospects ever more entwined, the consequences carry far: education, a force meant to erode class barriers, appears to be fortifying them.

Read the rest online.

The Freakonomics of College

"The Things They Taught Me" is a fascinating radio show, from Freakonomics Radio and broadcast on NPR.  The discussion focuses on the costs of college and what you get for the money you spend.  In the end, it is a more positive view than you'd expect considering all of the problems with college that they cover.  Worth a listen.

DIYU a Rising Trend?

In a trend that is likely to keep some college administrators up at night, Alex Williams reports for The New York Times that more young people are "Saying No to College."  Some are following the lead of famous drop-outs like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs into the computer industry, where tech skills have always trumped degrees and "one-and-done" is "almost a badge of honor."  Others are following more of a "DIYU" path: learning online from MOOCs and piecing together an education on their own.  Williams even suggests that the traditional college path may no longer be a good match to the current economy, which calls for and rewards creativity over conformity, as argued by Michael Ellsberg in The Education of Millionaires.  The article does a good job of capturing the voices of dissent to the "college for all" paradigm, and the range of evidence it presents suggests a new anti-college convergence, especially with "Student Loan Debt Rising, and Often Not Being Paid Back."  Worth reading.

Bill Gates on the College Crisis

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Gates gave a presentation on the current state of higher education, and I thought his PowerPoint slides made a great model for students in this class.  (Of course, why should we expect anything less from the man who brought us PowerPoint in the first place).  His argument, as you might expect, is that technology is the solution -- but he stops his presentation before using the M_ _ _ word.  Worth a look.

Is College Worth It?

"College of the Future...."

In "College of Future Could Be Come One, Come All" (The New York Times, Nov. 19, 2012), Tamar Lewin documents and feeds the exploding interest in MOOCs (massive open online courses) as the "next REALLY BIG thing" in higher education.  The focus of the article is Princeton Sociology professor Mitchell Duneier's MOOC, which you can check out online (see above).  I wonder what the MOOC version of "College!" would look like?  Or maybe "Basic Composition"?  I can definitely feel the trend.

Students Worry about Money (Surprise!)

"Financial Worries Pile on Long Before Graduation" (November 14) according to a recent article in The New York Times, which cites data from the 2012 National Survey of Student Engagement.  Students are not only concerned about finding a job after college (which has become the most important factor in choosing a major for most students, especially in STEM fields) but they are also very worried about finances while in school, which can impact their engagement and performance.  According to the report: 

Concern for finances appears to affect many students’ academic performance. About one in four first-year students and one in three seniors frequently did not purchase required academic materials due to their cost, and a third of students believed that financial concerns interfered with their academic performance. Yet despite their financial concerns, three out of four students agreed that college is a good investment (17).

Read the complete report online.

Presentations in the Cloud

As I discussed last class, I encourage you all to use cloud-based options for the presentation, especially Google Presentations or Prezi.  I have posted two short instructional videos that may be of assistance.  Please share your presentation with me and I will comment on it.  Remember: I also discourage using a lot of text (avoid "PowerPoint Overload").  Just get the basic information up there in headline form and try to use visual elements to help communicate your ideas orally.  You only have 10 minutes.  

TIME's "Reinventing College"

With the blackout, canceled classes, and general distraction of Hurricane Sandy, I am just getting around to reading TIME Magazine's excellent recent issue devoted to "Reinventing College" (October 29, 2012).  I was especially happy to see Amanda Ripley's lead article, "College Is Dead.  Long Live College!" which does a great job of assessing the rising tide of internet optimism surrounding massive open online courses or MOOCs (an acronym destined to be a major addition to the dictionary this year.)  As she writes:  "Already, the hyperventilating has outpaced reality; desperate parents are praying that free online universities will finally pop the tuition bubble -- and nervous college officials don't want to miss out on a potential gold rush."  Writing about her own experience of a MOOC, she provides a very refreshing portrait of how technology can add a lot to college students' educational experiences, when done right.  There is no question in my mind that MOOCs are going to change college, if only by changing the way many traditional college courses are taught.  Students working on their papers for this class will appreciate the statistics and graphics in "Degrees of Difficulty," which I expect to see in a few student presentations....  Check it out.

The Higher Education Bubble

The Higher Education Bubble by Glenn Harlan Reynolds is an inexpensive new book in the "Encounter Broadside" series that fires all cannons at the high-priced ship that is the American university system.  According to Reynolds, a major "market correction" for higher education could be just around the corner, because "Bubbles burst when there are no longer enough excessively optimistic and ignorant folks to fuel them." Like many in our course, the American people are beginning to understand that a very expensive college degree that requires you to take on a boat-load of debt has become a risky proposition, especially during this protracted economic crisis.  Reynolds makes it clear that the higher education bubble is parallel to the housing bubble and its bursting is just as inevitable.  In fact, I don't think he does enough to draw the parallels, beginning with the way that government policies encouraging home ownership AND "college for all" have contributed a lot of hot air to both.  Unlike the housing bubble, though, when the higher education bubble bursts, not all houses will fall: the most likely to suffer severely and even founder during the coming set-back will be those institutions that are expensive and have not succeeded in preparing their students to pay back their debts  -- especially the weaker law schools (and Reynolds should know, since he is a law professor).  

Though a bit short on facts or specific figures, this pamphlet does a good job of painting the big picture in broad strokes.  It's the sort of thing I wish I had read a couple years ago, before I became interested in this topic and reached the same conclusions myself.  Reynolds's advice to both students and institutions is "do not take on more debt" with a possible correction around the corner -- which makes you worry about the $750 million bond that Rutgers and other state institutions are pursuing (though some of the project is more like refinancing than new borrowing).  Those interested in learning more about the "bubble" argument without buying a book should check out the excellent presentation and video on "The Higher Education Bubble" from educationnews.org.

Subprime Goes to College

In 2010, Steve Eisman -- who made money by correctly selling short the banking industry -- predicted that for-profit colleges were headed for the same sort of trouble that brought about the financial crisis.  His talk, titled "Subprime Goes to College" (text and PowerPoint), is worth a look by anyone interested in the for-profits.

Steve-Eisman-Ira-Sohn-Presentation-2010

100526 Steve.eisman Subprime Goes College

The College Student's Presidential Choice

"Which Presidential Candidate Is Better for College Applicants?" in yesterday's NY Times does a great job of boiling down the differences between Obama and Romney from a college student's perspective.  I think the choice is clear, but I will leave it to your judgment.

"Maxed Out" on YouTube

I watched "Maxed Out" last night on Netflix and saw today that it is available for free on YouTube.  It is a great introduction to the way banks are making enormous amounts of money through predatory lending practices.  When we consider the fact that banks are the chief proprietors of for-profit colleges, you might start to see a conspiracy afoot....  Part of the film deals with the way credit card companies have gotten college students hooked on credit.  It's a real eye-opener.

U.S. News College Rankings

U.S. News released its 2013 college rankings, where Rutgers placed a respectable 68th overall.  Interesting statistics on the school include a 77% 6-year graduation rate (which is lower than the 87% figure I mentioned the other day in class -- by comparison to Phoenix's 10% mentioned in College, Inc.)  The business of college rankings could be an interesting topic for the class.

"Declining by Degrees" on YouTube

I thought about assigning "Declining by Degrees" as a text for our class, since it offers a wonderful overview of controversies surrounding college today -- touching on binge drinking, the growing importance of sports on campus (and how that both detracts and distracts from academics), the rising cost of tuition, students working long hours at jobs while in school, declining academic standards, the increasing privatization, the question of whether traditional instructional methods really work, the pressures on faculty, etc. etc.  But it is a little long (at two hours), and I wanted to focus on debt and privatization this term, which is not a big focus of the film.  However, as it is available on YouTube (see first part above) and various other venues, I recommend that you take a look at it, especially if you are trying to get ideas for your final research topic.  

RU Professor Critiques Athletics Budget

Mark Killingsworth addresses SAS faculty.

In "Cleaning up after U. Athletics," RU Economics professor Mark Killingsworth presents a well-argued opinion piece in today's Targum, in which he defends new RU president Robert Barchi's call for a reduction in the amount of money that Rutgers is spending on athletics (which cost over $28 million each year).  Killingsworth was among those who has led a vote by the SAS faculty for deep cuts to the athletics budget.  If Barchi pursues his current position regarding athletics, the story could easily make national news.  In any event, the controversy would make for a fascinating research topic.

"Degrees of Debt" in The NY Times

At nearly $17K, Rutgers Students Still Have Less Debt than Many Others

"Debt Collectors Cashing in on Student Loans" in today's New York Times is the fourth article in their powerful series "Degrees of Debt," which puts a human face on the statistically terrible toll that privatization has had on this generation of college students.  The reporting by Andrew Martin and Ron Lieber is first-rate, and I would not be surprised to see their timely series nominated for a Pullitzer.  Previous pieces include:

• A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College
• Slowly, as Student Debt Rises, Colleges Confront the Cost
• When the Price of Shedding Student Debt is Hopelessness

Most impressive is the interactive graphic that accompanies the series, which shows Student Debt at Colleges and Universities Across the Nation.  According to the graphic, Rutgers students are not doing too badly, even though Rutgers tuition and fees are among the highest for public schools.  But the average graduate in 2010 still had $16,766 in debt, which is quite a burden given the economy.  Meanwhile, in their graphic "Bad Student Debt Stubbornly High as Collection Efforts Surge" we see just how bad the default rate is at for-profit schools (our focus in next week's discussion).

Price of Admission

I just discovered an excellent program that appeared on CNBC titled Price of Admission: America's College Debt Crisis.  It is one of the most thorough treatments of the problem of college debt that I have seen and I am thinking of including it as a required text for the class -- to go along with a new reading: Bob Meister's "Debt and Taxes: Can the Financial Industry Save Public Universities?" which takes the conversation to a much deeper level of analysis.  There are just so many good materials on the privatization of public higher education that they are getting hard to choose among.

Half of Grads Underemployed

The Boston Globe claims that "1 in 2 of new graduates are jobless or underemployed," which is very discouraging.  According to the article: "Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs -- waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example -- and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans."  A Rutgers University study titled "Unfulfilled Expectations: Recent College Graduates Struggle in a Troubled Economy" supports this finding and offers a host of interesting statistics on this population.

Community College Crisis

I think Kevin Carey is my new favorite author.  His article "Why Are Community Colleges Being Treated Worst When They Are Needed Most?" (The New Republic, April 17, 2012) seems so timely.  It is clear that the defunding of higher education is only going to get worse, so that the underlying problems with the two-year schools -- including the general lack of uniform transfer standards (something NJ addressed years ago with the articulation agreements presented at NJ Transfer), the high drop-out rate, lax standards, and insufficient course availability -- will only get worse, driving more and more students into the arms of private for-profit institutions.

Republicans Deregulate For Profit Colleges

Andrew Leonard's "A Huge Student Loan Scam" at Salon.com tells how Republican lawmakers are pushing to deregulate for-profit colleges, potentially with disastrous consequences for the nation, which is already seeing record student loan debt and high drop-out rates at for-profits.  I think anyone who saw College, Inc., would agree that this sector of the economy needs more and not less regulation right now.  But as those who control these colleges get rich, they also become politically powerful.  Look for this to be just the beginning of scandals associated with the for-profit colleges.

Tent State "Mimics" Social Movements

For the tenth year in a row, Rutgers Tent State returns like an annual rite of spring, as the Targum describes today in "Students occupy University for 10th Tent State."  Whether or not the protesters have an impact on anyone but themselves is an open question, and you have to wonder when a protest leader is quoted as saying that "the event mimics how real social movements work."  So, does that mean that Tent State is just a pretend social movement?  That the students are just going through the motions, pretending that they might have an impact?

"We Don't Need No Stinking Degrees!"

In "A Future Full of Badges" (Chronicle, April 13, 2012), Kevin Carey continues to explore the way "badges" are already growing into an important form of alternative certification that could eventually challenge the supremacy of the college degree.  Not only are badges cheaper, they may very well be better in some ways, since they certify real skills and competencies in very consistent and universal ways -- something that cannot be said of the typical college degree.  See also "MITx Expands Access to Higher Education" for more thoughts on Carey's argument. 

Barchi Represents a 'Hybrid' Approach

Robert L. Barchi, M.D., Ph.D., will be taking on the role of Rutgers president come September 1st, and his vision of a "public-private hybrid" seems about right for our increasingly privatized future.  His medical background also makes a great fit with the very likely merger with the medical school, which is another "hybrid" that creates opportunities for new funding sources.  He seems a good choice for exactly this moment.

Responsible Drinking Happy Hour

The great Cook / SEBS tradition of "Responsible Drinking Happy Hour" is documented in today's Targum in an article titled "Programs at U. Teach Students to Drink Responsibly."  One of my students two years ago used this program as his "case" to help argue that there are ways to help students drink responsibly as an alternative to "prohibition," which we all know is not effective.  In fact, as that student showed, without proper acculturation to drinking, students tend to drink more and binge more often as they near age 21, with alcohol use and abuse simply tracking age and access.

Samantha's Glog

The posters and glogs have begun rolling in.  Keep 'em coming.

College a Good Investment

Derek Thompson's article "What's More Expensive than College?  Not Going to College" in The Atlantic offers some useful statistics on the continuing value of a college degree, despite the rising expense.  Especially when compared with other investments -- and with not going to college -- going to college is a very sound investment.  

Useful Links for Poster and Presentation

We are going to discuss the Presentation and the Poster today.  Here are some useful links to materials I will refer to in class:


Poster - due April 10
You need to design a poster for display that is 22 x 28 inches in horizontal display.  The best posters from the class will be put on display at the Poster Fair on April 18 and 19.
Google Images - great tool for finding images for your poster
Glogster - a useful online poster creation tool, easy enough for kids to use
Posterazor - downloadable software for dividing large docs into 8.5x11 sheets for printing


Presentation - due April 17
You are allowed to use any tool you want, but I want you to submit your slides by April 17.
Five Ways to Reduce PowerPoint Overload - remember that less is more!
Google Presentations - you are welcome to submit your presentation on Google Docs
Prezi - a great presentation software tool alternative

The Point of Protest

RUSA President among Arrested at Student Debt Protest is today's Targum headline.  The article describes a student protest outside Sallie Mae that is trying to focus media attention on the issue of student debt.  I often question how effective a protest can be in changing opinion, but when I consider how few people really have formed an opinion on issues like student debt, I have to consider that "raising awareness" is the first step.  

MITx Expands Access to Higher Ed

The "Do It Yourself" University (DIYU) movement, discussed here last month, has gained the support of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose MITx program began teaching students yesterday.  Very likely this was the sort of thing that Kevin Carey had in mind, as he commented on in MIT Mints a Valuable New Form of Academic Currency (The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 22, 2012).  From all accounts, and there are many, MITx is expected to be only the first of many schools to enter this new category of for-profit schools or extensions offering credentials (or "badges") to students, often in lieu of a traditional college degree.  Will this level the playing field for student "consumers" of higher education?  Or is it another method that the increasingly privatized higher education marketplace will use to capture student dollars?  Only time will tell, but I rather agree with Carey that this is going to be an increasingly important part of the market and real competition to for-profit institutions like those profiled in College, Inc.  


There are a number of articles online for those who want to learn more, including one in yesterday's New York Times:

• Beyond the College Degree: Online Education Badges by Tamar Lewin (NY Times)
• MIT’s Online Threat to the Higher Education Cartel by Bob Adelman (The New American)
• MITx Opens Enrollment for First Interactive Online Course; Pilot Certificates Will Be Free by Marc Perry (Chronicle)
• MIT’s New Free Courses May Threaten (and Improve) the Traditional Model, Program’s Leader Says by Jeffrey Young (Chronicle)
• 'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas by Jeffrey Young (Chronicle)

Race-Conscious Admissions Goes to Court

U. Texas Austin, where affirmative action is under fire.

The Supreme Court has taken up a challenge to admission policies at University of Texas, Austin, where a white student denied admission is seeking redress for what she claims is racial discrimination.  The story is well covered in Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge to Race-Conscious Admissions at U. of Texas (Chronicle of Higher Ed) and Justices Take Up Race as a Factor in College Entry (NY Times), and the issue could easily rise to a national debate when the Supreme Court hears arguments.  Already there has been some discussion of how Asian students might be discriminated against by Ivy League schools trying to keep them from dominating the rolls.  And as admission to college grows increasingly competitive, there are bound to be more cases along these lines.


I have long argued that anyone who questions a school's desire for diversity (designed to benefit the school by providing a more democratic learning environment for students) should also question why schools have legacy admissions (designed to benefit the school through strengthening alumni bonds and donor support).  Yet you rarely hear legacy admissions criticized, even though there is a lot of evidence that they are even a bigger problem for society than diversity admissions -- see Richard D. Kahlenberg's Affirmative Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions for an extended critique, which you can find summarized to some extent in his 10 Myths about Legacy Preferences in the Chronicle.  One reason why legacy admits go unquestioned is our increasingly privatized mindset, whereby Americans see anything that is good for a school's bottom line as beyond question, even if it is even more unfair than traditional affirmative action.

Critical University Studies

In the latest issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeffrey Williams writes "Deconstructing Academe: The Birth of Critical University Studies," which essentially sets forth the rationale, and much of the reading list, for a course like our own.   Williams visited Rutgers last year and much of this article was discussed in the talk he gave.  His essays on the student debt crisis are very valuable and anyone writing on those issues should seek out his work.

HILT Conference on College Teaching

It has long been acknowledged that most faculty in higher education have never had specific instruction in teaching.  So the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT) is a huge step forward.  You can read more about the initiative in "New Initiative for better teaching" (Harvard Gazette) and "Harvard Conference Seeks to Jolt University Teaching" (The Chronicle of Higher Education).  There could be a great paper on how college instruction could be improved.

Christie proposes increased aid to higher education - The Daily Targum

The Daily Targum reports that Gov. Christie proposes increased aid to higher education, noting that Gov. Chris Christie's annual budget address calls for a 6% increase in funding for higher education.  As the Governor explained: “In our society, education is the key to advancement. More attainment in education is the path to more earnings and success in life. And a highly educated work force is a key to New Jersey’s competitiveness.”  Of course, coming after many years of decreasing funding, even a 6% increase is not a significant change, and his call for more funding comes as he is also calling for tax cuts, so there is some question of how long any increase could be sustained.  That said, however, we should still applaud the Governor for his vision and his understanding of the value of higher education to the state -- something he has also demonstrated with his recommendations for restructuring Rutgers.

Obama Tries to Keep College Affordable

Video: Obama Decries Rising Cost of College Education: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Though he can't make states devote more resources to cash-strapped public colleges, President Obama is pursuing ways to keep college more affordable, as he announced in his most recent State of the Union speech and a talk on College Affordability in January (see above).   The outlines of his plan are discussed in "Obama Links College Aid with Affordability" (The New York Times, January 27, 2012).  The idea is to link financial aid to college value and affordability, denying money to schools with low standards and offering incentives for states and schools that do more to keep costs low and quality high.  Though it is very unlikely that this plan will pass through congress, especially in an election year, it does offer an interesting vision of what the federal government can do to address the many problems we have been discussing in this course.

International Students and Privatization

The Daily Targum has an editorial today on College Budgets: Filling the Gaps, which points to a New York Times article (Taking More Seats on Campus, Foreigners also Pay the Freight) about the University of Washington's efforts to recruit international students to help make up for cuts in state support.  The writer suggests this is a good model for Rutgers, and I can tell you that Rutgers is already doing this, though on a much smaller scale than UW.  Maybe we should all ask ourselves if we agree with the Targum editorial writer, though, that this is a generally positive trend:

Still, there may be some value to be found in this trend — and the pros do seem to outweigh the cons. Yes, some in-state residents are denied certain opportunities. But on the other hand, at a time when the only other alternative for these schools seems to be cutting valuable programs and laying off instructors — or worse, raising tuition prices for all students — looking to the term bills of more international students for extra cash may be the lesser of two evils.

All we can say for sure is that both the trend and the Targum writer's reaction to it are more evidence that we have all come to accept the privatization of public education as a given.

The Public University in the 21st Century, Feb. 24

The Public University in the 21st Century is a conference that will help you to see how the issues we have been discussing are being addressed by academics.  The conference meets from 10 am - 6 pm on Friday, February 24th, in the Alexander Library's Teleconference Lecture Hall, on the fourth floor (right next door to where we meet for our library sessions).  I hope to attend the entire day myself and would be glad to see you all there.  Here is a list of speakers:


10:00: Welcome Remarks, Meredith McGill, Director of the CCA


10:15 Craig Calhoun, President, SSRC
“The Public Mission of the University”

11:15 Carla Hesse, History, UC Berkeley
“The Meanings of ‘Public’ at Public Universities”


12:15-1:45 Lunch break


1:45 Chris Newfield, English, UC Santa Barbara
“The Future of the Public University in the Age of Privatization”


2:45 Mary Beth Gasman, Education, U Penn
“The Role of Public Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Past,
Present, and Future”

4:00 Peter Osborne, Philosophy, Kingston
“‘Purely Financial’? Philosophy and the Future of Universities”

5:00 Michael Kennedy, Sociology, Brown
“How Publics Matter in Higher Education”

College Rankings and Privatization

One contributing factor that has made college into a commodity, no different from sports cars or perfume, has been the college rankings system -- which is explored in great detail by Malcolm Gladwell's "The Order of Things: What College Rankings Really Tell Us" in The New Yorker (February 14, 2012).  Focusing on the US News College Rankings, the article ends up deconstructing the entire ranking process, showing how arbitrary choices in what factors to value, and whether or not price gets included, can have dramatic impacts on where a college stands in the final tally.  What none of these rankings get at is "value," which Marty Nemko tries to address in "The Case for a College Report Card," which calls for schools to be judged on dollars and cents: how much do they charge and how much do their students make upon graduation?  In none of these articles does anyone pause to reflect on whether or not college should be just a monetary proposition, since we now live in the age where it is all dollars and cents.  That is the thinking that informs the lawsuits brought by law school graduates against their schools for inflating placement rates -- a practice that is bound to increase if Nemko has his way.  How college rankings are determined, and how Rutgers and other schools try to raise their rankings, would make for a very interesting topic.

"The Story of a Suicide"

Ian Parker's "The Story of a Suicide" in The New Yorker (February 6, 2012, pp. 37-51) offers a very detailed account of the relationship between Tyler Clementi and his roommate, Dharun Ravi, as seen through their use of social media, to which the writer gained remarkable access.  The story of Clementi's suicide and the ongoing trial of Ravi are well known and many of the details of the story have been widely reported.  But Parker's fascinating article adds many new layers of detail that plumb the depths of the issues at stake, including the ways that young people use social media to construct and explore identity, the issues of privacy and sociability raised by life in the dorms (the students were roommates in the Davidson residence hall on Busch), the treatment of homosexuality and sexuality in general in dorm life, and the quite "alone together" non-relationships that college roommates often develop.  Anyone interested in exploring any of these topics will find the article a must-read and impossible to put down.

SAS Faculty Votes Against Football

By an overwhelming majority (175 174 to 3) the Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences today voted to cut the athletics budget in half and to require greater budgetary transparency in the future.  Though largely a symbolic gesture, the vote clearly signals the start of a re-evaluation of the place of sports at Rutgers in light of the impending retirement of President Richard McCormick, Coach Greg Schiano's departure for Tampa Bay, and the revelations last month of just how much athletics is costing the school.  The vote will likely make headlines as it coincides with National Signing Day, when new recruits commit to schools, and it may contribute to a feeling of uncertainty that could impact student decisions despite the speedy naming of Kyle Flood to take Schiano's place. 


In an article titled "Rutgers Is Left to Evaluate Program's Worth," The New York Times summed up the financial dimensions that have faculty concerned about the place of sports at Rutgers: 

During the 2010 fiscal year, the university’s subsidy to the athletic program was $26.9 million, or about 42 percent of the athletic budget. The university’s $102 million stadium expansion project, finished in 2009, has not prevented the athletic program from being one of the country’s largest money losers, according to an analysis by The Star-Ledger.

The place of football at the University will certainly be a large part of the conversation surrounding the hiring of a new president and will continue to make headlines throughout the semester, despite it being the off-season.  I can't think of a more interesting time for students to consider a research project for this class devoted to college sports.


Update: The story is covered in The Star-Ledger: "Growing resentment evident in overwhelming vote to cut Rutgers athletic budget, faculty say" (Thursday, February 2, 2012) There is also a story in The Daily Targum: "Faculty supports [sic] athletics budget cuts."

Huffington Post Analyzes Executive Pay at For Profit Colleges

See the article for the full graphic, including graduation rates.

In an article titled "For-Profit College Executives Make Much More Than Their Higher Education Counterparts," The Huffington Post offers their analysis of executive pay at for-profit colleges compared to the graduation rates at these schools.  No surprise for anyone who watched College, Inc.:  those in charge of for-profit schools are making a killing while their students are failing to complete their degrees.  And who will be left on the hook for the subprime educations that these schools are selling?  These execs are getting rich, ultimately, at tax payer expense.

Kevin Carey's "Radical Solution" and DIYU

Kevin Carey's "A Radical Solution for America's Worsening College Tuition Bubble" (The New Republic, January 10, 2012) does a great job of laying out the problem of rising college debt in all its numerical dimensions, which anyone interested in the topic will find useful to reference.  His "radical solution" of encouraging more "do it yourself" college education and getting the government involved in sanctioning it is very interesting even if only suggestively presented.  For a more complete presentation of the idea, you might read Anya Kanenetz's DIYU (featured in the video above from late last year).

Restructuring Rutgers?

Probably not many students would be attracted to a report titled Rutgers and Medical Education in New Jersey, but I urge all students to read this report because it has tremendous implications for the future of Rutgers and the value of your future degrees.  After all, Rutgers New Brunswick with a Medical School and, potentially, with no direct association with Camden and Newark, could have a much elevated standing.  We can readily see that this restructuring is designed to strengthen these schools as we enter a new era of national and international competition among higher education institutions.  Let's see how this develops before we analyze it any further.  But I think this is an exciting prospect.

Student Debt vs. Freedom

On the first day of class I talked about the contrast between today's students, who are so over-burdened with debt and work that they have no framework or time to think of freedom, and the student protesters at Berkeley in 1964, whose main concern was not money (since college was so inexpensive and well supported by the State back then) but freedom and civil rights.  It is very easy for students today to envy the students at Berkeley in the 60s, or to deride them as hippies of a bygone era who had nothing better to do than to protest.  But it is a stark lesson in contrasts that should wake us up to the ways that growing student debt is not just a problem for the individuals affected but also a very serious problem for our democracy.  

The evening after our first class I went home to find the latest issue of the AAUP's Academe with an article by Jeffrey Williams titled "Academic Freedom and Indentured Students," which makes an extended comparison between indebted students today and the indentured servants who helped settle this country. It brings home the opposition of debt and freedom in ways I hadn't anticipated.  Anyone interested in the question of debt should read this article, and anyone interested in pursuing this topic should definitely track down other articles by Professor Williams, who has written extensively on the subject.  


After reading that article, pause to listen to Mario Savio's speech on the Sproul Hall steps in 1964.  And ask yourself whether or not students today will rise up to reclaim their freedom in the same way -- or if they just have too much to lose today by doing so.

The Expos Five on "Wake Up Rutgers"

The Expos Five from Expos the Movie on Vimeo.

On Monday, I will appear on "Wake Up Rutgers" on RUtv from 9:00-9:30 am to discuss my film The Expos Five, which is a "required reading" for our class this term.  If you are up that early in the day, you might check it out, if only to tell me how it went.  The Expos Five has been getting some attention of late, and I just noticed that they are re-running an item from last semester on the main Rutgers website titled "Course Taken, Lessons Learned."  RUtv also ran a program last term which you can view on YouTube.






I am glad to promote the film because I made it to reach students, and reaching them requires publicity.  The film has only had 3,200 views, which means I am certainly not reaching all of the 6,000 or so students who take the class each year.  The whole idea of the film is to connect with students "where they live" and show them how the choices they make can have a big impact on their success in the course.  I often tell people that the film is sort of like "Goofus and Gallant Take Freshman Writing," because it shows how attitude and action are everything.  If you want an "A," act like an "A-student," not like the students who struggled.


At the same time that the film has a moral lesson, I think it also serves as an interesting window on the life of freshmen at Rutgers, and in that way is a good companion to our readings by Michael Moffatt and Rebekah Nathan.  I look forward to the discussion.

Back to "College!"

Back to "College!" after a two-year hiatus!  Actually, it has been two years teaching other courses for the Rutgers Writing Program and working on other projects.  I haven't exactly been on sabbatical.  But I am glad to be back to teaching a course about issues affecting higher education, which are the issues that matter to me most and the issues which I find every college student can connect with in some way.  After all, we are all at college (exclam!)   


I am especially looking forward to teaching the course as a "hybrid," meeting only one day each week supplemented by online work.  It will give me a lot of opportunities to try out different technologies, especially Google Docs, Blogger, and Prezi, which will make this a very productive and successful class.  In my Spring 2010 class, students had good experiences with their blogs, and I was pleased to discover that all of those blogs are still standing, ready to offer ideas and models to this year's group of students.