Increasing College Productivity: A Continuing Puzzle
Are Productivity Gains in Higher Education Possible?
Andrew Kelly, The American
Yes, but not until institutions are provided with incentive to pursue them.Here’s a puzzle: leaders are calling on colleges and universities to produce more degrees, but cash-strapped states are cutting higher education spending. What’s the solution? Be careful how you answer-this question has become the most prominent fissure in contemporary debates about higher education reform.
For Another View see “The (Un)Productivity of American Higher Education: From “Cost Disease” to Cost-Effectiveness,” a recent working paper by WISCAPE Senior Scholar Sara Goldrick-Rab and WISCAPE Faculty Affiliate Douglas Harris
“Produce more degrees”? In the rush to churn out as many university graduates as possible, we’ve (1) lowered the standards of our institutes of higher education to abysmally low levels and (2) made it nearly impossible for your average grad to find meaningful work. For God’s sakes, the last thing this country needs is more degrees.