>Meanwhile the colleges and universities become ever more like
>businesses, becoming, as David Noble correctly points out, primary
>centers of capital accumulation.
At the Ohio State University, we are fighting against the corporatization of higher education.
The OSU is now trying to exempt itself from the Tuition Cap, which has merely capped an annual tuition hike at the maximum rate of 6% (already way above inflation), & planning to raise tuition by 9% per year instead. By our calculation, the result of the Cap removal will be as follows (based upon the tuition of $4383 for three quarters a year starting with academic year 2000-2001 for a resident):
6% hike 9% hike 2001 $4646 $4777 2002 $4925 $5207 2003 $5220 $5676 2004 $5533 $6187 2005 $5865 $6744 2006 $6217 $7351
The Student Tuition Alliance (of which I am a member & whose website is at <http://www.geocities.com/staosu/>) is now collecting signatures on petitions to (a) oppose the Cap removal & (b) hold a student referendum on the Cap removal. We'll be organizing delegations to testify before the Higher Education Subcommittee also. More is in the works.
In addition to removing the Tuition Cap, the OSU is raising admission standards, making "selective investments" (= giving more money to already successful departments well placed to raise the OSU's academic ranking while shortchanging others), gentrifying the campus area through an entity called Campus Partners (see, for instance, <http://www.alivewired.com/1999/19991216/news2.html> though this article is too old), and so on. Poor students who can't afford higher tuition are asked to attend community colleges instead.
The fundamental problem is a drastic decline of state support for higher education. "State support currently accounts for 47% of the University's General Funds Budget 3% less than five years ago and 11% less than ten years ago. At the same time, it remains our second largest funding component (after tuition)" (at <http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/ppac/ap/original.html>). I haven't been able to find stats that go back more than ten years yet, but I think the trend of privatization has existed since the mid-1970s.
While privatization has been a nationwide trend, Ohio seems to have worse records on public support of higher education than other states.
***** Ohio Has Underinvested in Higher Education.
Twenty-eight years ago a study alerted Ohio about an education gap and a funding gap regarding higher education. Ohio's public support per student left it ranked 48th among the states in 1969.
In FY 1996, Ohio ranked 41st in the nation in public support for higher education, and 9th in the nation in student fees. But, our costs are average.
Ohio has moved up 7 notches in 28 years. At this rate, we'll reach the national average in 64 years -- in the year 2061.
As was the case in 1971, Ohio's students today pay a significantly higher share of the total costs of higher education than do the residents of most every other state -- because the state's investment is so low.
("The Challenge Is Change FY 1998 - FY 1999: Operating Budget Recommendations of the Ohio Board of Regents," available at <http://www.regents.state.oh.us/newsitems/subcom97.pdf>) *****
Yoshie