Posted on 05/27/2014 3:53:15 AM PDT by massmike
NEEDHAM — Olin College, with its sleek, glass-walled buildings around a peaceful grass oval, has earned glowing international attention for the successful ways it has pioneered the teaching of undergraduate engineering.
Built from scratch with hundreds of millions of dollars from a private foundation and a commitment to charging no tuition, 12-year-old Olin has attracted standout faculty, even though it does not give tenure. Top companies recruit its high-achieving students, who graduate at enviable rates into jobs with above-average starting salaries.
Behind the accolades, however, Olin has been bleeding red ink.
The tiny college of about 340 students spent nearly $100 million more than it took in between 2008 to 2011, the last year for which figures are available, according to financial records obtained by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting.
Olin’s overall losses come to $129,412 per student annually, a staggering amount considering that Olin teaches only one subject, subcontracts maintenance and dining services, and does not offer an athletics program. Yet, it’s losing 4½ times more than what other colleges spend annually for all purposes, per student, based on a report by the Delta Cost Project, which analyzes higher education spending.
While no one tracks operating losses at universities and colleges, national higher-education specialists said they could not recall an institution similar to Olin’s size that has lost so much.
Olin’s endowment crashed in the global economic collapse of 2008, and its investment income could no longer cover its expenses. And, like many other colleges, it responded by raising the price it charges to attend rather than by significantly cutting costs. In fact, it continued to add employees and give raises.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
“Olin’s endowment crashed in the global economic collapse of 2008, and its investment income could no longer cover its expenses. And, like many other colleges, it responded by raising the price it charges to attend rather than by significantly cutting costs. In fact, it continued to add employees and give raises.”
YOu can eventually find the answer to the problem if you look hard enough. HIgh salaries and pee poor investing.
why is it that people, liberals specifically, do not bitch and moan about the salaries of college administrators and the sky-high cost of attending college the way they do with the oil and pharmaceutical company big wigs???????????!!!
Because of their obviously good intentions, of course. /s
For an engineering college, they are exceptionally weak at math. They are not going to make up the shortfall by raising tuition without raising their per-student cost from $43k to $172k per year (actually far more for paying students, since the vast majority of students receive financial aid from the school). The only functional answer is to reduce their expenses, and liberals are incapable of making the necessary choices.
Built from scratch with hundreds of millions of dollars from a private foundation and a commitment to charging no tuition,
Anyone can manage free easy money (until it is gone), even me. You do not get good mgt (decision making) until money is tight.
“The only functional answer is to reduce their expenses, and liberals are incapable of making the necessary choices.”
No, they see a pot of money in the remaining endowment and are actively seeking to plunder it and keep it for themselves. That is what is going on here.
$688k to teach one student for 4 years to get a bachelors degree in engineering? nonsense.
This is simple piracy. Money saved for the future is too tempting a lure for liberals - they want it all.
As in the federal government - it’s all about plunder and self dealing. That’s where you’ll find all the money - lavish benefits and retirement accounts for each of the faculty.
Olin College?? ‘How can it be a real college if it doesn’t have any sports team?’ Liberals are asking.
I agree entirely. I would think that an ambitious, hard working person with decent aptitude for analytical science and math could learn bachelors degree level engineering using study materials, online learning, and occasional access to someone with expertise to help with concepts and problems. I'm not saying engineering isn't challenging. It is. What I'm saying is that most students at the university level teach themselves much of what they learn anyway, and as such costs could definitely be cut.
It's the way sensible students get their education if they don't get the scholarships or have the resources to pay for a debt-free education.
What's my point? There are already excellent colleges for science and engineering, all economic levels, in that area. This school sounds really unneccesary.
Honor Code[edit]
The Olin Honor Code is a set of core values held by all Olin students. All students choose to sign the Honor Code during first-year orientation. Currently, the Honor Code has five Clauses: Integrity, Respect for Others, Passion for the Welfare of Olin College, Openness to Change, and Do Something. The subtext of these clauses are somewhat broad, in order to not impose on any students who may have different interpretations of a word. The existence of the Honor Code has often been cited[by whom?] as the reason Olin’s students are very open and trusting of each other. For example, teachers are able to trust students with take-home tests and cases of property theft are very rare.[citation needed]
This current Honor Code was created in 2013, after a year-long review of the previous Honor Code. The original Honor Code, written by the Olin Partners in 2002, had been called into question in 2012. Students wanted to be sure that the Honor Code still reflected the student body’s values, since it was written ten years ago. Among the changes made to the Honor Code by the students in 2012-2013 include the removal of the clause Patience and Understanding, as well as a full redefining of Do Something and a rewording of the other four clauses. These changes were voted on by the student body in a process outlined by the Student Handbook.[8]
Changing the Honor Code[edit]
The Code and its related policies can be amended by a majority of students at a “town meeting” of at least half of the student body. Each such meeting concludes with a vote on whether to abolish the Honor Code. If the code were abolished, the governing policies set up by the Office of Student Life would take effect. This automatic vote prevents the Code from remaining in effect if students no longer support it.
At the May 2012 Town Meeting, the student body voted to instate a Sunset Clause, placing an expiration date on the original code at the end of the next school year. Thus brought about the Honor Code Review of 2012-2013, explained above.
Here is their budget, what say ye?
http://www.olin.edu/sites/default/files/olin_college_fy12_approved_budget.pdf
If this college is actually run by engineers, that’s the likely root of the problem. They tend to not reside in reality-land in many cases.
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