You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Finances’ category.
In an effort to cut costs without reducing programs, colleges around the nation are cutting back to four-day class schedules.
Plans for four-day weeks have been announced at colleges in New York, Missouri, Georgia, and other states. The idea is even being considered at a few high schools.
The shift is expected to reduce heating and maintenance costs, and reduce commuting expenses for students, faculty, and staff.
On colleges with large on-campus student populations, a four-day week could make it easier to schedule student events and meetings. On commuter campuses, it could have the reverse effect.
A new survey of nearly four hundred private colleges and universities showed that more than two thirds were “greatly concerned” about enrollment figures for next fall, the New York Times reports.
Across the country, most private institutions are seeing declines in applications relative to last year, though final figures are not yet available. Experts attribute the drop-off to the current financial crisis, among other factors.
Elite privates seem to be immune to the application decline, though they are seeing more requests for financial aid. Administrators at large, mid-ranked schools say they can weather a dip by admitting a slightly higher percentage of applicants.
Even a small decline in enrollment can have a major effect on a college dependent on tuition for its funding, however. At Beloit College in Wisconsin, which has a student body of 1,300 and brings in three-quarters of its revenue from tuition, a decline in the entering class of just 36 students led administrators to announce that they would be reducing about forty staff positions.
The Daily Princetonian‘s blog has a scan up of a 1958 pamphlet for alumni about admissions policies for their children, and it’s great reading.
The Rutgers Daily Targum may take a financial hit soon, if the university enacts a student senate proposal to allow students to opt out of paying the fee that funds it.
The Targum is independent of the university and the student government, but receives about a third of its funding from a $9.75 per student per semester designated fee. Currently, students can request a refund of the newspaper fee at the end of the semester, but the student senate proposal would allow them to opt out in advance by checking a box when they pay their tuition bill.
The newspaper’s editor says that about one half of one percent of students currently opt out, and that if the check-box system caused that figure to rise as high as ten percent, the paper would likely be forced to eliminate one edition per week, ending its run as a daily newspaper.
The Targum is one of two organizations on the Rutgers campus funded through such a designated fee. The other, the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG), already has an opt-out check-box provision.
Rutgers’ president is expected to make a decision after the end of the semester.
For Student Power has a meaty new post up on tactics and strategies for organizing around campus budgeting issues in this time of economic crisis. Check it out.
studentactivism.net 
Recent Comments