If we’re going to have government in the higher-education business (which we don’t need, but it seems here to stay), it ought to offer high-quality education at the lowest cost possible. Cost to the citizenry, that is, not to the students through subsidies.
Now that the college bubble is starting to deflate, many schools are trying to pull in more students. In today’s Martin Center article, Jenna Robinson looks at the efforts the UNC system is making.
One effort in particular doesn’t seem too bad. Robinson writes:
- In 2017, the UNC System introduced an initiative to help former students earn their undergraduate degrees. According to UNC, “There are more than an estimated 1.1 million adults in North Carolina who have some college credit, but don’t hold an associate or bachelor’s degree.” UNC’s initiative for these “Partway Home” students fills empty seats at UNC institutions and helps students over the finish line. As such, it is a positive development as long as readmission standards remain high.
Unfortunately, the rest of the ideas aren’t good ones. Lowering tuition for students just means that more of the cost is heaped on state taxpayers, and lower admission standards means luring in more students who aren’t academically prepared for college-level work. The result of admitting weak students is to further degrade the curriculum to keep them happy.