Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Dilemma of the "Well-Endowed" University
AP education writer Justin Pope has a solid piece about the growing tensions between the super-rich colleges and everyone else.
Harvard's endowment - the largest overall - expanded by an amount last year that's more than Ivy League rival Cornell has altogether. Princeton now has more than $2 million in the bank for every student. Stanford raised nearly $1 billion during its last reported fiscal year alone.
The disparity between the haves and the have-nots appears to be creating a schism in education similar to the schism in American social class.
Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust added to the tension by getting into an exchange with Big Ten provosts over whether ambitious science research should be left to the most elite universities. Some objected to her suggestion that it would be better for some institutions to focus on social sciences and humanities.
As a handful of colleges get richer and richer, what effect does this have upon the American system of higher education in general? And how will American society be shaped by the education wealth gap?
It's an interesting and important problem—perhaps the most important problem that Drew Faust will face in her presidency. ¶ 8:11 AM
Harvard's endowment - the largest overall - expanded by an amount last year that's more than Ivy League rival Cornell has altogether. Princeton now has more than $2 million in the bank for every student. Stanford raised nearly $1 billion during its last reported fiscal year alone.
The disparity between the haves and the have-nots appears to be creating a schism in education similar to the schism in American social class.
Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust added to the tension by getting into an exchange with Big Ten provosts over whether ambitious science research should be left to the most elite universities. Some objected to her suggestion that it would be better for some institutions to focus on social sciences and humanities.
As a handful of colleges get richer and richer, what effect does this have upon the American system of higher education in general? And how will American society be shaped by the education wealth gap?
It's an interesting and important problem—perhaps the most important problem that Drew Faust will face in her presidency. ¶ 8:11 AM
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eayny, this is why you don't see me around too often...it's pretty difficult to get sentimental over Harvard's endowment and I will not comment on something I know very little about...which are actually lots of things. I prefer to watch and learn and leave those discussions to people like Professor Thomas and others who know much more about these affairs. And Richard hasn't needed any defending lately either which I usually spring to...other than that, what can I say...go Giants!
lmpaulsen
lmpaulsen
# posted by 
: January 24, 2008 8:44 AM
: January 24, 2008 8:44 AM
It's a problem to be sure. But it is a better problem for the country to have than to have all universities grow poorer, rather than only most of them. Some of the recent lather about Harvard implies that the latter would actually be "fairer."
# posted by : January 24, 2008 8:50 AM
: January 24, 2008 8:50 AM
I wish Pope wouldn't use that locution 'some believe,' etc.
By the way, let me say a hearty 'Amen!' to a Krugman post from today:
Davos avoidance
I’m not at Davos. Partly this is because my wife and I really needed some quiet time together, before the semester starts. Partly it’s because textbook revision deadlines loom. But I also have to say that the scene at Davos, with all the great, good, wise, and, especially, rich gathered together to celebrate their greatness, goodness, wisdom, and, especially, wealth, has always made me uncomfortable. I usually end up skipping a couple of big dinner affairs and sneaking off to feast on the modern Swiss national dish — which is, of course, spaghetti carbonara.
By the way, let me say a hearty 'Amen!' to a Krugman post from today:
Davos avoidance
I’m not at Davos. Partly this is because my wife and I really needed some quiet time together, before the semester starts. Partly it’s because textbook revision deadlines loom. But I also have to say that the scene at Davos, with all the great, good, wise, and, especially, rich gathered together to celebrate their greatness, goodness, wisdom, and, especially, wealth, has always made me uncomfortable. I usually end up skipping a couple of big dinner affairs and sneaking off to feast on the modern Swiss national dish — which is, of course, spaghetti carbonara.
OK, this gets tricky, but one objection here, namely the implication that the rise in the endowment has been accompanied by anything much more than inflation-offsetting salary increases for Harvard faculty say in the last six years. And as for the last sentence of your article,
("Harvard now pays full professors on average about $177,000, compared to about $106,000 at the average public research university")
most tenured colleagues in FAS (certainly in the Humanities) will be wondering why they are so sub-average.
("Harvard now pays full professors on average about $177,000, compared to about $106,000 at the average public research university")
most tenured colleagues in FAS (certainly in the Humanities) will be wondering why they are so sub-average.
# posted by : January 24, 2008 11:48 AM
: January 24, 2008 11:48 AM
To say nothing of faculty members at the bottom of the totem pole...
# posted by : January 25, 2008 10:42 AM
: January 25, 2008 10:42 AM
This is a sad turn of events for Faust. She started with a splendid inaugural speech that positioned her to be, like previous Harvard presidents, a respected leader for higher education as a whole. Why did she then do and say things that harm Harvard and undercut most other institutions, arousing their intense resentment? Access will become even more unequal for most high school seniors, and Congress will be even more likely to poke into the affairs of the so-called "ultrawealthy" institutions.
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# posted by : January 25, 2008 12:20 PM
: January 25, 2008 12:20 PM<< Home
