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Higher Education: Not a Worthy Charity
As part of their annual alumni gathering the UCLA Anderson School of Management posted a boast on Instagram about how the class of 2002 raised $1.2 million for the school. I certainly support charity, but this boast really struck me – is this the best place for these talented people to be putting this amount of money? Are colleges and universities, as they currently operate, good places for charitable dollars?
Let’s put some perspective on the economics of attending the Anderson School (I am only picking on them because I am an alumnus). The current cost of the full-time program at UCLA is $96,966 for residents and $109,540 for non-residents. The executive program costs close to $150,000 (note the link shows the cost of one year of the two-year program). I am a 1986 graduate of the UCLA management school full time MBA program. My total tuition costs were $3,000. Tuition increased 3,133%, a 12% compound growth rate. Inflation adjusted tuition would be $6,674, a 122% increase with a 3% compound growth rate. In 1986, UCLA was ranked #8 by US News. Now it is ranked #15.
On the cost side, I could not find much information on the Anderson School, but spending at the University of California has grown massively (health care and hospitals are part of that) like it has at most universities. And the spending is not on education. The number of faculty has stayed relatively constant while the number of administrators has grown steadily. From 2000 to 2015, enrollment increased 38%, faculty numbers stayed flat, and administrators more than doubled. From the LA Times: “The number of those making at least $500,000 annually grew by 14% in the last year, to 445, and the system’s administrative ranks have swelled by 60% over the last decade — far outpacing tenure-track faculty.” Again, health care plays a role in that unbalanced growth but this article in the American Spectator details how politically correct “research” pays extremely well. Does a donation go to something that delivers social value?
I won’t go into the corrosive politically correct, anti-free speech environment that has taken over many if not most universities. Others have written about that. But is that something we should support with charitable dollars?
Mrs. Clavius and I stopped out donations to UCLA when the Faculty Senate voted in kangaroo session to condemn the second Iraq War. This action was never disavowed or criticized by the administration and not reversed by a more proper convening of the Academic Senate. Since then, they have eliminated the requirement to read Shakespeare to get an English degree. Yet another reason not to support this institution.
Our older daughter is just finishing up a degree at Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington. She has had a wonderful experience at this Jesuit institution. We had been generous supporters of the university until they hired Melissa Click, the infamous “get some muscle” woman from protests at the University of Missouri. The hiring was done after a “nationwide search” revealed her to be “most qualified” candidate for the position. That cost us our faith in the administration and cost Gonzaga further donations.
I firmly believe one must donate to worthy causes as much as one is able. I am afraid that higher education no longer qualifies as “worthy” for me.
Published in Education
They have become political indoctrination centers for the left. They are not worthy of public funding either.
Hear, hear.
I see that my alma mater, Davidson College, now costs $64,000/year. Oddly enough, I got out of Davidson with no debt.
I was lucky. As an undergraduate, UCLA cost $234 a quarter or about $700 a year. I believe it is around $17,000 a year now.
Even $17,000 we could deal with. $64,000? No way.
Current admission rate at UCLA gives each applicant a 17% chance of admission.
http://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/california/university-of-california-los-angeles/admission/
My daughter got accepted at Davidson, but there was no way we could afford it.
What if your local food bank had ever inflating costs and no evidence that they fed more people? You would give to a different charity. Colleges should be judged the same.
Ay yi yi!
Amen, Henry.
But if you’re an illegal non-resident, it might not cost you that much.
So instead of being shown the door, illegals are helped to the front of the line.
That’s our lovely state of California for you.
The sound you just heard was steam coming out of my ears. My bigoted racist ears.
And I’m sure they consider illegals as in-state residents for which fee to charge them. Although, I don’t know of any state that charges illegals the non-resident fee.
Hillsdale is WORTHY. Do what Ray and I have done. We have adopted Hillsdale as our “surrogate” Alma Mater, and we donate as generously as we can. They will be more than happy to have any of you as “surrogate” alumni.
We have donated there several times and will continue to do so. It is a fine institution.
So have we, at times I feel like Larry Arne in my best buddy with the solicitation mail.
Their online classes are superb. They need to do an in depth Shakespeare class though. One play needs 7 lessons. One lesson for each Act. A summation of the themes and a debate. One you get the grade in enough Shakespeare plays you get to take the advanced Shakespeare class.
Years ago I wound up on a flight back from DC next to one of their English professors. Seemed like a decent fellow.
Malcolm Gladwell has a podcast series called Revisionist History. The best one by far is the one discussing a rich guy who donated $100 million to some very small public college rather than his alma mater, MIT (episode is called “My Little Hundred Million.” )
It will change the way you think about donating to colleges and universities.
Hear, hear! I absolutely agree. I have never understood why people donate to their alma mater. I paid for my education and now why would they want more? For some reason people give to it as if it’s part of their identity. I give my money to real charitable organizations.
$100 million! Wow. The Anderson School at UCLA naming only cost John Anderson $17 million.
It is worse than that even.
My alma mater, Cal Poly, S.L.O. just received a donation of $110 million. The same person gave $20 million last year. With another $60 and $20 the last few years they are doing pretty good. Still sending me request for donations though.
My quarterly tuition went up to $18 with a added $2 parking fee my last year(boy did the students gripe about that!). I worked most of the time I was there. I could make it on $1000 a year, that was tuition, books, room and board. It was several times that for my son who graduated in ’85. I don’t know what it is now, but pretty sure it’s in the tens of thousands. It’s got out of hand. All of the education costs in California have, while the state ranking has gone from first to almost last.
The only thing illegals deserve is deportation.
Where have I heard that name before? Oh, yeah. Can we send all of the ex-Obamites to you?
I saw this story. Just plain corrupt.
Exactly. I see it as a transaction I made once upon a time. I gave my school money, they gave me an education. When I graduated, the transaction was complete and we no longer had any obligations to each other.
Sure, I vaguely follow news from my college and still have friends from back then. But I follow news and have friends from old companies I used to work for and cities I used to live in, too. And they don’t ask me for money.
They would certainly fit in. It isn’t like they would change the balance in California politics. We’ve been a one-party state for a while.
Ha Ha! Great analogy!