Colleges pay presidents millions while raising tuition (Psst - freeloaders - over here!)

CNN ^ | 12/20/11 | Blake Ellis

[Libloather]

Colleges pay presidents millions while raising tuition
By Blake Ellis @CNNMoney
December 20, 2011: 5:22 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Some private colleges are paying their top executives millions of dollars, at the same time they're hiking tuition prices for students.

Vanderbilt University paid its chancellor, Nicholas Zeppos, $1.9 million in 2009, according to the school's most recent tax filings -- enough for up to 43 students to attend Vanderbilt at current prices. His total pay includes a base salary of $673,002, as well as bonus and other compensation.

That same year, Vanderbilt's tuition jumped 4.3%. Since then, the college has hiked tuition more than 3% annually, and now totals $41,332, according to the university.

His overall pay was actually 21.5% lower than it was the previous year, according to the school. Even so, Zeppos' 2009 base was almost four times the average professor's salary of $179,600, the college confirmed.

Zeppos "deserves the compensation he receives," said Mark Dalton, chairman of the college's Board of Trust, in a statement.

[Libloather]

Occupy that.

[Sacajaweau]

People still pay the tuition and they’re still in business. Where’s the problem? This is a Private college.

[WOBBLY BOB]

BTTT

[WOBBLY BOB]

Enrollment at America’s leading universities has been increasing dramatically, rising nearly 15 percent between 1993 and 2007. But unlike almost every other growing industry, higher education has not become more efficient. Instead, universities now have more administrative employees and spend more on administration to educate each student. In short, universities are suffering from “administrative bloat,” expanding the resources devoted to administration significantly faster than spending on instruction, research and service.

Between 1993 and 2007, the number of full-time administrators per 100 students at America’s leading universities grew by 39 percent, while the number of employees engaged in teaching, research or service only grew by 18 percent. Inflation-adjusted spending on administration per student increased by 61 percent during the same period, while instructional spending per student rose 39 percent. Arizona State University, for example, increased the number of administrators per 100 students by 94 percent during this period while actually reducing the number of employees engaged in instruction, research and service by 2 percent. Nearly half of all full-time employees at Arizona State University are administrators

A significant reason for the administrative bloat is that students pay only a small portion of administrative costs. The lion’s share of university resources comes from the federal and state governments, as well as private gifts and fees for non-educational services. The large and increasing rate of government subsidy for higher education facilitates administrative bloat by insulating students from the costs. Reducing government subsidies would do much to make universities more efficient.

For public universities the administrative bloat is much worse than at private colleges - administrative positions grew by 39% between 1993 and 2007, almost four times the 9.8% increase for instructional positions. At private universities, without access to the public largess, administrative and instructional positions increased at about the same rate.

http://goldwaterinstitute.org/sites/default/files/Administrative%20Bloat.pdf

[DIRTYSECRET]

OMG! It’s that 1% again!

[NakedRampage]

My brother was attending a private Catholic college on a 50% scholarship, kept up his grades, didn't live on campus, did not party, etc. In short, a good student. Even with 50% scholarship, the tuition went up so much in jsut two years that he couldn't swing it anymore. That was while working too.

Its getting to the point that these rich privileged brats who haven't done a days work in their life are the only ones who can afford it, or rather their parents can afford it. Regular, solid, middleclass Americans are getting squeezed out.

[Mouton]

and where is most of the money coming from to support these lard assess....student loans. Just like in the mortgage scandal, free government money is being used to fuel these bubbles. I saw a stat the other day, the total student debt in the US is now higher than the accumulated debt on credit cards by the entire population. And what happens when they cannot pay? Guess who is holding that bag??

[Happy Rain]

The higher the loans students have to take out the more the government controls them through their debt.
Leftist academia and the Obama government—now that they control all student loans—are working together to keep Democrats in power.
High tech loansharking:
“You owe me money!”
“I ain't got man!”
“You better got or else!”
“I ain't got man,what you want me to do!?”
“Glad you asked.”

[A_perfect_lady]

I've long since noticed that wealth is okay if certain people have it. You don't see liberals screaming about Barbara Streisand's fortune, or Sean Penn's, or any liberal who has made a great deal of money and taken care to keep most of it.

It's just like the Tim Tebow thing: religion is also okay if you're black, or a socialist Catholic, or of course, muslim. It's only "frightening" and "oppressive" if you're conservative.

Increasingly, it's obvious to me that all the things liberals scream about, they aren't really that upset about deep down. You can be sternly moral, loudly religious, and stinking rich... as long as you are a liberal. In other words, their protests about these issues is really just a red herring. The real issue is, are you conserative?

[George from New England]

Where’s the problem? ... It’s not private funds that the students use. At those prices it’s likely to be over-benefited pensions from union retirees or federal workers.

[hans56]

That’s always been the plan
You don’t want your kid boarding with a workers kid, do you?

[Sooth2222]

"People still pay the tuition and they’re still in business. Where’s the problem? This is a Private college."

I wouldn't have a problem with this if mom and dad and the kids were writing the tuition checks. The problem is that mostly they're not paying the tuition. They're borrowing the money to pay the tuition, and you (and I) are guaranteeing the loans.

College tuition follows a similar inflation model to health care cost where the beneficiary of the product isn't paying for it. At least not immediately. We're out of money, and the price inflation is unsustainable. College education is going to explode, just like the real estate bubble did.

[fungoking]

“People still pay the tuition and they’re still in business. Where’s the problem? This is a Private college.”

What allows them to overcharge is that the students who go there get federal student loan and federal financial aid; both coming out of the taxpayers pocket.

Tie the amount of students that get federal money or loans to the % of the school's endowment that goes to student financial aid.

[layman]

If this trend continues we might wake up one morning in the near future to discover that the college presidents are making more than the football coach.

[wny]

I work in a northeastern university in the facilities department..management is struggling to find a million dollars or so to replace two 35-year old boilers. The Diversity Department probably gets more than this.

[Tzimisce]

It’s all George Bush’s fault!

/sarc

[blueunicorn6]

Is that a feminist studies professor driving a BMW?

[kabar]

I wonder how much federal and public funding goes to that “private” college. The now Federal student loan program and Pell grants help students pay for the tuition at those schools. And if there are defaults or whatever the balance after 20 years, the taxpayer picks up the tab. There are very few schools in the US that don’t get some sort of government subsidy. Hillsdale is one of the few I believe.

[kabar]

The combined value of federal grants and contracts for research and related activities at Vanderbilt University, including the Medical Center, totaled $424 million in fiscal year 2009. The National Science Foundation ranked Vanderbilt 22nd among U.S. colleges and universities based on all federal obligations for research and development funding in fiscal year 2007, the most recent year for which these rankings are available. This is the fifth consecutive year that Vanderbilt has been ranked in the top 25 universities.

[Anima Mundi]

Gradually this has become a way to keep the smart, but non-affluent out of the elite loop. Over time college is becoming more and more about how much money you have rather than whether or not you can master a tough academic curriculum. And, since good jobs generally require a college degree to even grant an interview, it keeps the up and comers from coming up through the merit ranks and we are back at being born “royal” or not. The elite protect their progeny from competition. Cream rises, but scum floats.