Colleges and universities are cutting budgets by the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. But what exactly are they cutting—fat or lean?
There are two new contributions to the debate, which is more like a shouting match on many campuses. The two key questions: Are the masses of administrators and executives who sprouted across higher education in flush times taking their fair share of the pain during the current crisis? And will the crisis really force higher education to be more efficient?
Johns Hopkins professor Benjamin Ginsberg has buttressed his acerbic attacks on higher education’s “bureaucracy gone wild” with a new book. But a report out Wednesday from a research group offers a more positive take. It concludes that compared to previous downturns, colleges have better resisted the temptation to balance the books with easy cuts to teaching, and are trying to make structural reforms.…Read More