It's not clear if a trend is underway yet, but 2024 is beginning to look like a period of controlling college costs through budget reductions. Job cuts were announced at numerous institutions ranging from community colleges to state universities to at least one elite university. The wave of cuts includes a variety of institutions with Ohio over-represented. Cuts in staffing or budget that could lead to staff reductions were initiated to align with enrollment decline or in other cases were designed to control the increasing cost of higher education. Demographics, cost, and changing attitudes towards higher education will inevitably close some colleges, especially small, private, and religious institutions. Whatever the impetus, it will be important to stay abreast of staffing and other budget cuts and the way these changes play out in public opinion.
While some elite institutions have already crossed a $100,000 per year price tag, predictions are that others will soon follow. Controlling rising costs in U.S. higher education is voiced by both Democrats and Republicans but the two sides have different ways of getting there. U.S. House of representatives passed the College Cost Reduction Act along party lines, confirming Representative Foxx's accusations that all of higher education needs an overhaul. Democrats introduced numerous amendments, all of which were voted down by the Republican majority.
From a systemic point of view, it's important to recognize the role that elite and more expensive colleges and universities play in perpetuating social class in the U.S. Smaller elite institutions, and even larger institutions with enough resources to fund it, offer "small discussion and seminar-style classes that foster critical thinking, debate and personalized attention," approaches that prepare graduates for careers and roles of leadership. By contrast, larger public institutions rely more heavily on standardized testing, memorization, and lecture-style courses that reduce the potential for engagement and cultivation of critical thinking and social/organizational competencies. These differences amount to tracking, the result of which is enhanced networks that privileged graduates acquire simply by showing up in more elite institutions. Exceptions to this dichotomy can be found in large and public universities, but anomalies are primarily offered to "honors" students, or those who are granted admission to the ranks of elite learners by virtue of special talent.
Ironically, overall state support for public higher education increased by 10.2%, offsetting the supplemental funds that were allocated during pandemic relief. The pattern of increases includes hefty increases in some of the states where higher education is under attack, as in the examples of Florida where the state funding increased by 16.6% and Texas where the increase was 46%, a large portion creating an endowment for public education. Illinois announced a funding plan to increase equity among its 12 state colleges and universities, a move that would serve regional and minority-serving institutions. Kentucky is poised to increase funding, a move to enhance employability of residents in rural areas. The U.S. Congress boosted funding for 707 projects in earmarks primarily for equipment purchases to help colleges and universities.
The optimism that may be justified based on increased funding to state institutions is counter-balanced by states where consolidation of higher education is being sought. The Governors of Pennsylvania and Oklahoma have proposed the merger of public institutions in their states, with particular attention to regional institutions with declining enrollment. The proposals face potentially strong opposition where the institutions are in small towns where the institutions are the lifeblood for the economy. Mergers of independent arts colleges may allow them to survive even with current enrollments declines but private institutions such as Goddard College had no place to turn.
