The Impact of the Economic Downturn on Higher Education

Angelo Renaldo III
Fordham University

Recently, I joined the ranks of American parents of high school aged students in their junior year across the country contemplating college admission by participating in a university campus tour with my wife and seventeen year-old son. The tour began in a pleasantly situated reception room amply stocked with baked goods and hot coffee. Our tour guide was a smartly-dressed, young man named Steven who spent the next two hours talking, smiling and answering questions (while walking backwards most of the time) as he led our group across campus. Our route wound through classrooms, the student center, the library, cafeterias and dormitories situated throughout the facility. Listening to the questions and reactions of the group, all seemed impressed with the physical surroundings and the campus experience that our guide was describing as we circled the grounds. Our tour ended at our starting point: the room with the coffee and pastries. Parents and students, smiling and encouraged by the tour, filed in to listen to an admissions counselor discuss tuition and fees as the final phase of our visit. As the counselor advanced the slides in her presentation, the mood shifted from enthusiasm to concern. Questions from the audience about financial aid, room and board, books, scholarship eligibility, student loans and on-campus employment swept the good vibrations from the tour swiftly out of the room. As I sat listening to the presentation, holding my second doughnut of the day, I suddenly lost my appetite.

Today’s economic statistics point out that my family’s experience is not unique among prospective college students seeking higher education opportunities in the United States. Total college costs including tuition, room and board rose by 30% in public colleges and universities and 23% in private institutions in the decade ending in 2008. During that same time period, the percentage of public school tuition paid by families and individuals rose from 31.2% of to 36.2% (Snyder, 2009). While the cost of higher education has steadily risen, household income has remained flat. Median income rose from $41,620 in 1970 to $50, 641 in 1999. Since then household income has remained below 1999 levels in inflation adjusted dollars through 2007. (DeNavas-Wait, Procior, & Smith, 2008).

It is important to consider that these financial conditions were already in play prior to the current global recession. And the convergence of earlier financial trends with the current recession has created the perfect storm for college bound high school graduates and the institutions that serve them. A 2009 poll of 63, 200 high school seniors registered for the SAT revealed grim statistics about their ability to fund higher education. Nearly 30% of students reported that their parent’s income had declined, and 23% indicated their family had fallen on hard times. As a result, 41% of students are giving more consideration to attending a public university or college close to home, and 47% are giving much more consideration to working part-time while attending school. Finally, 54% of those surveyed indicated that they were very concerned about the cost of higher education in general (Hesel, & Williams, 2009).

Flat income growth, rising costs and a global recession all seem to point to a dire future for higher education in the United States. However, to gain a clear perspective on the current situation and future implications, one should look to the role education played in past economic struggles.
In nineteenth century Chicago, a settlement house founded by Jane Addams worked to establish social clubs that offered educational opportunities to children of immigrant parents. Brutal economic forces of the day often drove children fourteen years of age and younger to leave school and earn wages to support their family. Sadly, a large number of delinquent children that landed in juvenile court were the oldest sons of large families. The economics of the time denied these children educational opportunity. The popular settlement house programs served as an outlet that supported an impoverished population when no other avenues existed (Addams, 1961). Across the globe, a similar movement struggled to provide educational opportunities for Shanghai silk factory workers in pre-World War II China. Western adult educators established schools in factory districts that provided courses in mathematics, reading and writing along with programs that focused on industrial problems and social change (Boshier & Huang, 2007). In both instances, poverty and hardship did not quell the desire to seek education. Rather, education itself served as a light towards progress for adults in an otherwise dark economic world. Our third American president, Thomas Jefferson, recognized the importance of education as the path to success for the country. Jefferson understood the relationship between the lack of educational opportunity and exploitation of the citizenry. He saw education as the best method for preventing the abuses of government and vital to prepare leaders of the new nation (Elias & Merriam, 2004). These examples demonstrate that in times of struggle, education remained a vital need; an avenue of hope used to combat the abuses of government and economic forces.

So, in our modern world what should be done to sustain higher education? If institutions are to survive the current economic tsunami they are going to have to re-think their approach to improve efficiencies. Traditional brick and mortar institutions, with their program formats from a bygone era, will have to change their approach if they are to remain viable (Thomas, 2009). The first thing that comes to mind is leveraging the use of technology. On the surface technology seems like the ideal solution. However, the addition of technology into a traditional institutional environment will not improve productivity; rather it will likely increase costs unless the technology is combined with a new approach to instruction (Meyer, 2006). Traditional academic institutions must consider a business approach to handling the crisis if they are to succeed. New collaborative partnerships should be formed to create synergies and cost savings. A customer-centric approach to educational programs should be employed to develop offerings that are flexible and focused on students needs. Finally, government must recognize the cost of remedial education for students not adequately prepared in K-12 and implement college preparatory programs in middle school and high school to improve efficiency (Thomas, 2009).

History tells us that economic struggle does not quell the human desire for education but drives the need for reform. And if it is an accurate predictor of the future, our current global economic recession may be the great catalyst that drives revolutionary change to our higher educational system. Perhaps one day in the distant future when my son visits colleges with his high school aged child it will be a virtual tour through educational cyber space. It sounds exciting, and I hope I am there to witness it… but I’ll miss the doughnuts!







References

Addams, J. (1961). First days at Hull House. In Twenty years at Hull House (pp. 58-73). New York, NY: New American Library.

Boshier, R., & Huang,Y. (2007). The Untold Story of “Foreign Devil” Adult Educators in Shanghai Silk Factories (1920 to 1949). Adult Education Quarterly, 57(4), 329-345. doi: 10.1177/0741713607302363

DeNavas-Wait, C., Procior, B., & Smith, J. (2008). Income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States: 2007. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prGd/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf

Elias, J., & Merriam, S. (2004). Liberal Adult Education. In Philosophical foundations of adult education (third edition, pp.17-46). Malabar, FL: Krieger.

Hesel, R.A & Williams, R.C. (2009).The effects of the current recession on the financial circumstances and college plans of high school seniors and their families. Retrieved from http://www.artsci.com/studentpoll/v7-3/index.aspx

Meyer, K.A. (2006). Cost Efficiencies in Online Learning. The Association for the Study of Higher Education, 32(1), 1-123. doi: 10.1002/aehe.3201

Snyder, T. D. (2009). Mini-Digest of Education Statistics,2008 (NCES 2009-021). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC.

Thomas, M.K. (2009). Time for Higher Ed to Survive Crisis and Thrive. New England Journal of Higher Education, 23(3), 11.