Tuesday, February 28, 2006  No Tuition Left Behind  Okay, so if
this wasn't a boring enough blog, I am going to finally explain
just what has happened to higher education in the last decade.
Because, if anything should be obvious by now, it should be
obvious that I have a very bad feeling about where higher ed in
general is going. This is not a slam on my specific University,
but hopefully will illuminate national trends that I see as
being endemic, serious, and worth fighting.  So, What the Hell
Happened to Higher Ed in the Last Decade?  1. The states have
slowly defunded universities. So, if a university recieved 35%
of its operating budget from the state in 1996, it's entirely
likely that they recieve 25% now. I do not see this as being as
apocalyptic as some academics do, but it's clearly had an effect
in universities.  2. The universities have generally not
responded to the defunding very well. What they've generally
done are a few things: they've raised tuition, increased the
number of courses that are