Skyrocketing college costs have been getting the public’s attention. But that lax governance by campus boards and often royally compensated presidents causes these increases is less understood – and much less how to reverse this insidious dynamic.

Mitchell Langbert, who among other subjects teaches management at Brooklyn College, smartly addresses these lacunae in today’s New York Sun:

What are the incentives that university presidents face with respect to tuition? They are that higher budgets and higher costs per student are…associated with higher presidential pay…presidents not only have no incentive to contain tuition costs, they also may have incentives to see that tuition increases, especially if tuition is linked to increases in overall revenue and expenditure.…Universities have expended almost no effort to create incentives that might encourage university presidents to cut costs and constrain tuition. Moreover,…colleges continue to use not-for-profit financial disclosure methods that are designed to leave outsiders in the dark about what university managers are doing.

What is Langbert’s prescription for reform? With an emphasis on the ultimate responsibility of trustees – who have too long been flying under radar in these matters – he asserts:

…First, parents, students, and government should insist that universities issue financial statements that include information that is specifically relevant to colleges, such as facilities, operations, and instructional costs per student. Second, they should insist that university trustees begin to grapple with the design of appropriate incentives that will motivate university presidents to constrain rather than to expand costs.…For example, university presidents could be paid bonuses when tuition is reduced. They could also be rewarded for improvements in faculty research productivity [and] …students’…improvement in performance on achievement tests. Trustees who have the skills and motivation to monitor presidents could be hired, and such trustees could develop strategic plans, linking presidents’ pay increases to achievement of specific objectives. Trustees could also…could base merit pay for faculty and administration on cost reduction and increased student performance.