11/27/2023 0 Comments Plug power earnings callThat model worked when demand for college was high, as students tapped government loans to finance their educations, with few limits attached. Spending at the country’s 50 flagship public universities has soared by 38% in the past two decades, paid for largely through increases in tuition and fees. Meanwhile, the number of non-teaching administrators doubled between 20, with administrative salaries rising by $50 million over that time - even as enrollment dropped by 15%. Since 2010, debt has increased from $380 million to more than $960 million. Yet Gee’s call for budget discipline would be more convincing if his administration hadn’t approved a decade-long splurge on new and renovated academic buildings, dormitories and sports facilities. Phasing out undersubscribed programs, Gee says, will allow the school to invest in subjects that are “relevant to the students of today and the industry of tomorrow.” The focus on better preparing students for the workforce is certainly welcome. He blames the shortfall on years of cuts in public funding and lower-than-projected tuition revenue, caused by fewer college-going high-school graduates in West Virginia and steep drops in out-of-state and foreign-student enrollment. Gee has defended his actions as necessary to plug the university’s budget deficit, which is expected to grow from $45 million to $75 million by 2028. If the cuts go through, dozens of professors could lose their jobs by the end of the current academic year. Some graduate degrees in mathematics and music, among other subjects, will be discontinued. Students will no longer be able to major in any foreign languages only Spanish and Mandarin will even still be offered in-person. West Virginia’s board of governors will vote today on Gee’s proposal to eliminate 169 faculty positions and 10% of undergraduate and graduate majors at the university’s flagship campus. The uproar is a sign of what’s in store for other public universities in an era of falling enrollment - and many have only themselves to blame. Over the past month, the usually placid campus of West Virginia University has been roiled by student protests and a faculty vote of no confidence in the school’s president, Gordon Gee, over his plan to impose sweeping budget cuts.
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