Our Views: A bad deal for colleges

We hope that leaders in higher education are aware of the story of the Trojan horse, for two of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s floorleaders are wheeling such a dangerous gift up to the gates of the state university system.

In exchange for a promise — difficult to deliver, we might note — to seek to allow universities to raise tuition without a vote of the Legislature, the two lawmakers propose an “outcome-based model” that would cut state support for colleges if they don’t meet new performance standards on graduation rates.

Sounds good? In the story of Troy, the Greeks referred to the “horse-taming Trojans.” That is why the treacherous gift was a giant horse, the thing that was most prized by the victims of the ruse.

Tuition increases are desperately needed by colleges as Jindal and lawmakers cut state aid — again.

Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, and Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, are building an “outcome-based” Trojan horse that is baited with a promise of tuition increases. College leaders would be gullible indeed to fall for it.

The colleges have been battered by years of budget cuts from Jindal, cheered along by Appel and Carter, chairmen of the House and Senate education committees. These are state leaders who have, with budget cuts, demonstrated their hostility to higher education.

Now they want, under the guise of accountability, to have the Legislature directly writing the funding formula for higher education?

The 1974 Constitution intended for the Board of Regents to provide a master plan and funding formula for higher education. Maybe that hasn’t worked out as well as hoped — politics has gotten in the way, and higher education leaders have not pushed back enough against funding cuts and political micromanagement. Jindal has sharply reduced state aid to colleges, although he has — sometimes grudgingly — backed tuition increases to make up some of the difference. Those already have been tied to performance standards.

As Jindal recently noted, graduation rates are up as colleges are responding to the performance standards. Appel and Carter would inject lawmakers into the decisions of the Regents and college leaders.

If you want a completely political system based on the whim of legislators, take this Trojan horse for a ride in the State Capitol rodeo.

Comments

1) Comment by bourbon-soda - 06/03/2013

@SuzanneMS - 1) I understand that traditional brick-and-mortar colleges now hold a virtual monopoly for accreditation, but that could change fast. Courses on coursera.com look pretty credible and I wouldn't be surprised if some form of accreditation came about fairly soon. 2) Students know that professors are under pressure to facilitate increases in completion rates and game that system pretty intelligently even if the outcome is ignorance. They seem pretty sophisticated about what percentage of a class is expected to pass, and put more effort into staying in that percentage plus 1 than it would probably take just to learn the material, in some cases. Given this system, how long will brick- and-mortar college courses have more credibility than online? 3) An interesting little introductory course, "Statistics - Making Sense of Data" starts 4/1 for anyone interested (general suggestion; you don't need it) << https://www.coursera.org/course/introstats >> from University of Toronto.

2) Comment by SuzanneMS - 06/03/2013

Doesn't matter, bourbon_soda. They are legally adults. They can't be hauled off by the truant officer. If they don't attend class, they fail -- but, as is usual in Louisiana, they are not held accountable. The faculty are; they are punished for "low completion rates." Free online courses are only as valuable as the number of employers who will accept them; currently, that is close to zero. The courses are not accredited; they are simply the electronic version of the diploma mills of the past. Employers want to know that you have actually learned what you need to learn, and free online courses don't provide any evidence of that.

3) Comment by [e-mail] - 06/03/2013

SuzanneMS had a good comment, i.e. serious students usually pursue a specific program. Many corporations sponsor adult education courses, especially online, for obvious reasons. Good community colleges can meet these needs, really well in some instances. Delgado is an excellent example; some of their courses were developed to meet specific needs such as industrial safety, and a graduate of that course is usually hired immediately because local industry support and trust in it.

4) Comment by KilgoreTrout - 05/03/2013

After Bobby Jindal and the leges used fiscal gimmicks to declare the state budget balance for the last 5 years the chickens have come home to roost. After millions of dollars in mid-year budget cuts in December, 2012, up to $278 Million more may have to cut before June 30. The shortfall results from budgeting revenues that were highly unlikely to materialize. (See the details here.) It’s interesting that Jindal is even using some of the same revenues that didn’t materialize in the current fiscal year to balance the budget for FY14. One of those is the sale of the old insurance building property next to the State Capitol. Not only has the property not sold, but the revenues projected are higher than the appraisals. It’s the same for other properties around the state. Even in Louisiana, the state cannot spend the same money twice. Either there will be a shortfall in the current year’s budget or in the FY14 budget. Jindal makes a mockery of the intent of state constitution which requires a balanced budget. A majority of the leges are equally at fault because they voted for this fraud. Such accounting gimmicky makes as much sense as us mullets balancing our personal budgets based on the proceeds from winning the Powerball. It’s time to stop these fiscal games that only serve to harm the citizens of our state by denying them needed services. Jindal will not stop deceiving us; it’s up the leges to bring some sanity to our state budget. Ironically (or hypocritically) it’s the same sanity that Jindal claims is needed at the Federal level.

5) Comment by KilgoreTrout - 05/03/2013

Bobby Jindal, In an email message to his "friends" was this startling statement: “The folks in Washington could take a page out of our playbook in Louisiana and make government live within its means instead of taking money out of the private sector economy to grow government.” In other words, Bobby is suggesting that the people at the U.S. Capitol emulate, fiscally, what he has done at the Louisiana Capitol. Here’s what Jindal has done in Louisiana: – The per capita state debt has reached an all-time record. – The state is within striking distance of the constitutional “cap” on total debt. – The current state budget has a $278 Million hole in it because Jindal budgeted funds that never materialized. – The proposed budget for FY14 has a $1.2 Billion shortfall and is balanced using one-time and fictitious revenues. – The Unfunded liability is the state pension systems has grown by over $6 Billion. Unfortunately, it appears that the “folks in Washington” have already borrowed Louisiana’s playbook. The primary difference between Louisiana and D.C. is that they print money; we imagine it. Folks, you just cannot make this stuff up. Bobby actually wrote the above quoted statement. C.B.

6) Comment by bourbon-soda - 05/03/2013

@SuzanneMS - Thanks for interesting comment. No Louisiana resident attending a state school is paying all of his own tuition. Whether this obviates any of the prerogatives of putative adulthood is another question. The non-traditional student problem is interesting. It may diminish as people become aware of free online courses to fulfill specific requirements for work or to learn for a career change where a degree is not necessary. The 4- year degree is an artifact anyway. The proliferation of "universities" is a permutation of the aphorism "all government programs are jobs programs." The elevation to university status is a form of pork. @healthbudget - decreasing a subsidy is a tax - a facet of the "ratchet effect" of government - once you start giving someone something you can never take it away.

7) Comment by tradewinns - 05/03/2013

yea, dang jindal. singlehandedly he has caused the recession here and around the world that has caused the revenue to decrease for the state of La. thereby necessitatingcuts to public spending. perhaps we need to send him off to DC as president so he again singlehandedly jump start the economy and finally get the personal glory he must be seeking as he has caused all the pain in the world. OR, another possible solution is instead of raising tutition or increasing taxes to the universities is to, just perhaps now, cut expendatures?. not one mention of these businesses (and yes that is what they are) persual of their budgets and reducing expendatures. they ought to try that every once and awhile.

8) Comment by SuzanneMS - 05/03/2013

Why, Scrooge? Because Jindal wants to shut down public education entirely in favor of private, and the majority of the legislators equate an education with vocational training. Sadly, so does the Board of Regents. If it doesn't lead directly to a job, cut it. Who needs philosophy, art, music, literature, history a knowledge of the world and its people and their cultures? Just train them in how to build a better mousetrap.

9) Comment by SuzanneMS - 05/03/2013

You're quite right, Schmatzo, that there are quite a few "universities" which should be colleges, and colleges which should be community colleges. Besides all of that, this ignores the very real fact that undergraduates are legally adults. They cannot be forced to attend class, and if they are paying their own tuition, they will rightly feel that it is their decision whether to pass or fail. The deck is already stacked against the colleges and universities, as transfer students are not counted in the completion rate, only those who begin as freshmen. So the marginal student who wisely starts at a smaller, local community college, then transfers to a larger school after two years and graduates in two more does not do a thing for the completion rate. Also, the number of non-traditional students is increasing, and many of them are not seeking a degree. They want to take a handful of courses for a specific purpose, usually a promotion or to make a career-change, and that's all. They do what they came to do, but schools are penalized for it. They probably should be going to a community college, but there aren't nearly enough of them.

10) Comment by Scrooge - 05/03/2013

I meant unfortunately, &&^%$ spell checker but unforgettably might work..

11) Comment by Scrooge - 05/03/2013

Schmatzo, unforgettably, the cuts of the past six years have been indiscriminate concerning student academic achievement, they have hurt the good, desirable students equally. This damage might be characterized as stupidly self-defeating as might Louisiana. Why?

12) Comment by [e-mail] - 05/03/2013

The only educational outcome that has concerned "educators" for the last forty years is more money for the "educators". That's where "tuition increases" go for the most part.

13) Comment by Schmatzo - 05/03/2013

The opinion expressed is pretty much accurate, but unfortunately assumes that every college in our state has an inalienable right to stay open regardless of the results it produces. The colleges themselves are not totally to blame. The past three to four decades have seen a shift from well motivated, academically prepared students who could read and write with a basic level of math skills entering college, to the present, where a vastly increased percentage of students are not prepared, and in many cases unmotivated to seriously pursue a college education. For a good many, it is an avenue to extend your high school days. Students today are loaded with smart phones, lap tops, tablets, and every form of high tech, yet many do not have the literacy to put together a resume or spell words correctly. We can no longer, as a society, afford to keep subsidizing college programs which in many cases resemble a taxpayer funded day camp for unprepared high school grads.

14) Comment by healthbudget - 04/03/2013

tuition increases at public universities are a tax - plain and simple Thanks Booby for no new taxes