Is the Higher Education Bubble about to Burst?

Thanks JT. That is an astronomical budget cut. 1.6 billion shortfall for the state. Alabama's shortfall is only $700 million. Ain't we looking good? Nothing like waiting till the last minute to act. I thought Republicans were geniuses at running government like a business? At least we aren't Kansas.

Can they field a football team without a university?

heck of a job bobby. im guessing if lsu goes mammaries up, bobby's seat on the clown car may get a bit warm

It's got to pop sooner or later. Here is a pretty good read.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303933104579302951214561682

jthomas666 said:

LSU on brink of bankruptcy



The proposed state budget cuts LSU's funding by ~80%.

One of the key "benefits" of financial exigency is that it will allow the university to lay off tenured faculty--though doing so might be signing the university's death certificate.

Click to expand...

80% budget cut is probably a bit much, but the truth probably lies between the two extremes.
As Victor Davis Hanson observed, "Today’s campuses have a higher administrator-to-student ratio than ever before."
LSU administrators would probably prefer getting rid of tenured teaching faculty than cancelling useless positions like the Inclusive Community Wellbeing Director.
How can a college campus possibly operate without an Inclusive Community Wellbeing Director?
I mean, the very first thing the monks did at Oxford in 1096 was establish their Inclusive Community Wellbeing Director. Then they got busy hiring a Latin professor.

As for a higher education bubble, when the Federal government will guarantee students loans for as many Wymyn's Studies majors as want to pursue such a degree, I'd say, yeah, that is a bubble that will burst.
My kids finished four years with no student loans and their peers are amazed at that fact. All of their peers are in debt up to their eyeballs.

From a link inside JT's post

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/04/lsu_academic_bankruptcy.html#incart_river

The change would bring state funding for LSU from around $3,500 per undergraduate student to $660 per undergraduate student next year.

Just raise tuition $3000 a year?

Every time politicos talk about budget shortfalls, it's always cut the police, firemen, state troopers, parks, education. If we don't "need" them why do we have them in the first place. They never want to cut admin positions,

This will never happen if BJ has any desire to run in 2016

Lower oil prices have impacted Louisiana revenues, and budget deficits have robbed the state of reserves.

Just saw Jindal on TV. He appears to be focused on an Indiana style religious freedom act. No presidency for you Bobby!

Hmmm. Somebody proposed making community college "free" not long ago. If the faculty stays on the job and doesn't get paid, we can now have a UNIVERSITY education for free, too. Think of how that would benefit society!!!

Truth is, I again don't care. College ain't what it once was and the fact we guarantee loans to people majoring in Golf Course Management, who then can't get jobs is pretty pathetic. There ought to be SOME sort of reasonable rate of return or something.

Bamaro said:

This will never happen if BJ has any desire to run in 2016

Click to expand...

Cue the conspiracy theories that he did this to set himself up as "the candidate who can get it done" - because that's what will be said if he fixes it.

Tide1986 said:

Lower oil prices have impacted Louisiana revenues, and budget deficits have robbed the state of reserves.

Click to expand...

Sounds like government should routinely operate at a surplus in case of a rainy day.

TIDE-HSV said:

The truth again is that we need to look to the European model and divert kids with aptitudes into skills which are needed but are sorely lacking in this country. Not every kid benefits from a college education, even if that has come to be the American Dream. Our lack of trained technicians has greatly harmed the American economy, and yet the push still continues to make sure each American kid can go to college, whether he has the aptitude and even if he finishes owing the earnings of the first half of his life to a lender...

Click to expand...

I agree. I have taught young people who honestly had little business in college. In fact, they were wasting their money there. I can only imagine that, while in high school, they were urged to attend college in the hope that the light would switch on while there. Sadly, for many, that light never comes on. They just take the courses, incur the debt, fail the courses, and end up with the worst possible outcome: student loan debt, but no college credits.

TIDE-HSV said:

The truth again is that we need to look to the European model and divert kids with aptitudes into skills which are needed but are sorely lacking in this country. Not every kid benefits from a college education, even if that has come to be the American Dream. Our lack of trained technicians has greatly harmed the American economy, and yet the push still continues to make sure each American kid can go to college, whether he has the aptitude and even if he finishes owing the earnings of the first half of his life to a lender...

Click to expand...

not to worry, the invisible hand will take care of that soon enough

92tide said:

not to worry, the invisible hand will take care of that soon enough

Click to expand...

The invisible hand has largely been replaced by the government's jelly finger.

I've told the story before of a friend's daughter who got her sociology degree for only $160,000 in student loans. She's a waitress now. Only government (or government guaranteed) loans allow for his kind of stupidity.

TIDE-HSV said:

The truth again is that we need to look to the European model and divert kids with aptitudes into skills which are needed but are sorely lacking in this country. Not every kid benefits from a college education, even if that has come to be the American Dream. Our lack of trained technicians has greatly harmed the American economy, and yet the push still continues to make sure each American kid can go to college, whether he has the aptitude and even if he finishes owing the earnings of the first half of his life to a lender...

Click to expand...

Amen! As a teacher, I whole heartedly agree!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk