The pandemic may be the event that finally pops the higher-education bubble.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Florida State dumps policies on bias, ‘offensive’ language, ‘demeaning’ behavior, ‘inappropriate’ email.
But Ole Miss still requires on-line students to complete ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ training.
Absurd.
Yes please.
I was reading the other day that UK universities are complaining because so many of their students come from China that they may go bust if those students can’t come.
The sooner the better.
It’s not just the U.K. Coming soon to your favorite U.S. research university.
Before you regale me with comments on stupid hyphenated-studies programs… think a bit about the universities currently running NASA missions like OSIRIS-REx and Psyche. Or the ones developing hypersonic materials for new missiles and reentry vehicles. Or, heck, the universities developing tests and vaccines for COVID-19. Yes… every single one of those is dependent on revenue from Chinese graduate students. And a whole lot of those students aren’t going to show up on campus this fall.
Building a revenue model around overseas student tuition may not have been a great idea, but that’s the reality on the ground today. It’s going to be damned hard to prevent throwing out a bunch of babies with the bathwater.
Disclaimer: It’s not a secret where I work. I don’t speak for them, and they don’t speak for me.
What we’ll see then is where their priorities lie. Which programs get cut, and which “diversity administrators” keep their jobs will tell us which Universities aren’t needed any more. Those people working on those projects shouldn’t have too much trouble getting hired by Universities which make the opposite decision.
By the way, depending on foreigners paying full tuition is nothing new. Back in the 1990s I knew of a few state schools in the Pacific Northwest which depended on “the Al-s” from the Middle East to supplement various departmental funding.
University of Georgia telemarketers that solicit funds from alumni are considered essential workers. Granddaughter is student there.
At least with a online class, they can’t justify lots of staff for their grievance studies.