News: How Competition Is Killing Higher Education

Mark C. Taylor of Bloomberg Views gives his opinions on how competition is detrimental to higher education. Here is a snippet of his article:

But in higher education, competition often discourages risk taking, leads to overly cautious short-term decisions, produces a mediocre product for the price, and promotes excessive spending on physical plants and bureaucracies. 

The construction arms race on campus is the most visible example of competition run amok. To become more attractive to potential consumers, many colleges and universities undertake overly ambitious expansions. In some cases, new facilities contribute to educational programs, but too often they are tangential and trap institutions in a costly cycle: The new athletic center, dorm or student center starts to look faded when competing schools open theirs, and it never ends.

You can read the rest of Taylor's writing here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-17/competition-is-killing-higher-education-part-1-.html

Higher education is an investment we can’t afford to neglect

This article from The Olympian discusses the importance of supporting American institutions of higher learning. Here is an excerpt:

There is no doubt that legislators face difficult choices, but continuing to erode our higher education system is nothing more than shortsighted. And while I am very grateful to see that the recently proposed House higher education budget begins to reverse the trend and prioritize higher education – it still includes $30 million in cuts to four-year institutions alone. I am also very encouraged to see the House budget propose a $12 million investment in science, technology, engineering and math degree production. This is a critical investment for the technology and aerospace industries. Western and our other higher education institutions can play an important role in helping respond to the increased need for graduates with bachelor degrees in engineering and other STEM areas.
But the situation is clear. If our institutions are forced to take more cuts, the result will be increasingly limited access to higher education for Washington students, particularly the middle class, and a long-term blow to Washington businesses that rely on an educated workforce that we simply won’t be able to provide. I hope that our leaders in Olympia will make the right decisions this session, ones that will put us on track for economic recovery and long-term success.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2012/03/08/v-print/2021118/higher-education-is-an-investment.html?storylink=fb#storylink=cpy