Smoke Signals August 1990 Page 7
College Costs Skyrocket, Stifle Poor Students
By Thomas Kean
For decades, American higher education has been
gateway to upward mobility. Beginning with the G.I. Bill
in the 1940s, then the expansion of state universities in
the 1960s and 70s, we opened wide the classroom doors
to middle and low income families. In the process, we
helped create a dynamic, pluralistic society.
But that dynamism is in danger. Today, only the
wealthiest American families can consider college af
fordable without help. Tuition skyrocketed at twice the
rate of inflation over the past decade, while federal
support through loans and grants stagnated. Many states
have been reaching into their pockets to compensate for
federal declines, but that support is threatened by
another economic downturn.
Plugging the gap between financial aid and college
costs will keep getting harder; not easier. In fact, Merrill
Lynch projects that in 20 years an Ivy League education
will cost about a quarter million dollars.
Where's all this money going? Why do college costs
roar ahead of inflation? College and university presi
dents who are never shy about asking for money
whether tuition increases, alumni donations corporate
gifts, or government grants - have been less eager to
address these basic questions. Some have presented a
smorgasbord of factors like the need to bring faculty
salaries to a competitive level and the expense of books,
high-tech equipment and other items in the college
market basket.
Frankly, many of us in the academic community are
uncomfortable admitting that the desire of parents to
give their children a leg up in life, whatever sacrifice
required, has made raising tuition easier. Think of a
degree from our prestigious institution as an investment
that pays off in higher salaries and upward social mobil
ity, we tell them. At a time when 12-year old eagerly
, shell out $160 for Reebok "Pump" sneakers, why is
$80,000 for a college degree out of line?
Well, people are starting to wonder whether that price
tag is out of line. Students at several universities,
including the largest in my state, Rutgers, have taken
over administration buildings to protest tuition in
creases. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is investi
gating 56 leading institutions on charges of price-fixing
on tuition and scholarships.
' When both college students and Justice Department
lawyers asked the same questions about the price and
value of higher education and about the priorities of
college administrators - we had better be concerned.
For instance, do sparkling new student centers and
sports complexes further our educational mission, or are
they merely marketing tools designed to wow prospec
tive students?
Do the faculty "stars" we feature so prominently in our
recruitment materials ever actually find their way into
classrooms, or do they devote all their time to research
and writing?
Wliere's all this money going? Wlxy do college
costs continue to roar ahead of inflation?
College and university presidents, who are never
shy about asking for money, have been less
eager to address these basic questions.
This question goes directly to the heart of the univer
sity: the relationship between teacher and student. The
sad truth is, we have shoved the teacher-student rela
tionship far down on our list of priorities, as we have
lured prominent faculty to our campuses with promise
that their obligation to teach under-graduates would be
minimal.
As a result, by 1989 tenured professors spent, on
average, only eight hours a week teaching, a steep
decline from previous decades, according to a Carnegie
Foundation study. The teaching load of tenured faculty
is lighter yet at our nation's elite institutions, most of
which have no qualms in justifying lofty tuition costs' at
least in part, on the basis of their prestigious faculties,
even though the brunt of teaching under graduates is
borne by low-paid grad students.
This situation raises the serious question of whether
today's undergraduates are getting their money's worth.
Are they getting the product they thought they were
paying for? It also raises troubling questions about
current values in higher education.
College and university presidents, myself included,
must rediscover that how well we do our job is not
measurcd.by the size of our endowment or the number
of Noble laureates on our faculty, but by the kind of
society we help create.
Something is very wrong in our colleges and universi
ties when we regard creating an educated society as less
important than building a stable of renowned senior
fellows or garnering corporate grants.
Thomas Kean, former governor of New Jersey,
is president of Drew University in Madison, NJ.
New Tabloid Aims To Reach
Native American Students
Native American history, environmental issues, sports,
health and other news will be topics in a new monthly
publication for Native American students in grades 5
through 8.
The Native American Monthly Reader will be pub
lished eight times during the 1990-91 academic year by
International Traditional Education Systems, a Native
American-owned company developing culture-related
classroom curriculum supplements. ITES hopes to fill
Native Americans' need for cultural education and
information.
Students are encouraged to submit articles for possible
publication concerning their tribe and communities.
The first issue includes an article by students at the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, concerning
discovery of asbestos at the Red Shirt Table Commu
nity. A collaboration between movie actor Robert
Redford and novelist Tony Hillerman, on the need to
preserve the richness of Native American tradition in
the face of modern life, also is featured in the premier
issue.
The publishers plan to reach 2,000 schools in the
United States and Canada. Each issue is accompanied
by a teacher's guide and is designed as a supplement to
the existing school curriculum.
For complimentary copies, subscription rates and
further curriculum information, contact: ITES, P.O.
Box 217, Crestone, Colo. 81131; (719) 256-4848.
Minority Teacher
Numbers Decline
Report Calls on Educators to
Help Boost Percentages
The shortage of minority teachers in Oregon and
across the country is so great that everyone, from state
leaders to grade-school teachers, must work for solu
tions, educators said recently.
"If you use the excuse of being criticized for reverse
discrimination" to avoid working on solutions to the
minority teacher shortage, "it is stupidity," Frank
Newman, president of the Education Commission of the
States, said.
Tribal members who live in the Salem area might want
to know that the Keizcr School District has sought for
years to increase the number of minority educators it
employs. But according to district records, the number
of minority teachers at it's 48 schools has remained
between 3 and 4 percent between 1979 and 1988.
'We still do not feel that our teaching staff
adequately reflects the ethnic and cultural
diversity that we would like to see it reflect. "
' Susan Gourly
Susan Gourly, the district's personnel director, said the
district is trying to do better.
"We still do not feel that our teaching staff adequately
reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity that we would
like to see it reflect," she said. '
The commission released a report produced by the
Alliance of Leaders for Minority Teachers that warned
that current programs to increase the numbers of
minority teachers in elementary and secondary schools
will not work without a unified effort by district and
school leaders, state leaders and schools of education
attempt to increase the ranks of minority teachers are
often undone when all levels of the education system are
not working together or even aware of each others'
programs, the study showed.
"If we want all children to become active
citizens of a democratic society and capable
participants in the 21st century work force, we
must be committed to programs that encourage
their ambition and intellect from pre-kindergar-tenon."
'
-Eleanor McMahon
Eleanor McMahon of Brown University, who was co
chairwoman of the alliance, said: "If we want all children
to become active citizens of a democratic society and
capable participants in the 21st century work force, we
must be committed to programs that encourage their
ambition and intellect from pre-kindergartcn on."
The report said only 10 percent of elementary and
secondary public school teachers are members of
minority groups, while 20 percent of the children they
teach are minorities. At the end of this decade, only 5
percent of all teachers are expected to be from minority
groups.
Reasons for the nationwide shortage, according to the
report, include teachers having lov expectations for
minorities and often assigning them disproportionately
to low-level courses. Also, the report said minorities
often are taught by inexperienced teachers in districts
with few" resources to help teachers progress profession
ally. 1
"Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians simply have
not received equal or high-quality opportunities in
schools, a factor which contributes to lower college
entrance and completion rates," it said.
Of those minorities who do acquire a college educa
tion, fewer are choosing education, fewer are choosing
teaching as a career. The historically black colleges,
which once produced half of the nation's black teachers,
lost 40 percent of their teacher education enrollment ,
from 1977 to 1986.