Summarized by James T. P. Yao – 11/4/99

"… We have the greatest colleges and universities in the world. But if current trends continue, we will soon face a day of reckoning."

"Tuition is so high that the poor are frozen out of higher education, in spite of expanded scholarship programs. Middle-class parents are having a difficult time meeting college expenses. … Estimates indicate that about half of graduates leave college with student loans that take years to pay off."

"In their zeal to bring in dollars, colleges and universities admit students who can’t handle the course work but who may be able to pay the bills. … We make many of our courses too easy, while grade inflation gets students through those that are more difficult. Rigorous core curriculum has almost disappeared. …"

"… We keep adding programs and courses to our already bloated curricula in an attempt to be all things to all people."

"Meanwhile, faculty members do ever more meaningless research, while spending fewer and fewer hours in the classroom, during an academic year that we have shortened in recent decades."

"I have been a businessman for over 35 years, and I was a trustee of the University of Massachusetts and Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education for a total of 12 years. … and was chief executive officer of a transit system with an annual budget of $1-billion. … Never have I observed anything as unfocused or mismanaged as higher education."

"… Why are costs high? Nobody is in charge. …"

"Because presidents rarely are able to take charge, colleges and universities become top-heavy. Academic and administrative staffs have layer after layer of personnel. And, of course, bigger staffs mean higher costs, higher tuitions, and more pressure to raise money for the institution."

"Another cause of high costs at colleges and universities is tenure – perhaps once a good idea, but one whose time has passed. …Tenure rewards the lazy and incompetent. Its costs are enormous. … Post-tenure review programs are in vogue. …"

"We should have two categories of professors: The first would be teachers, who would do only whatever research it took them to be outstanding teachers; they would spend nine to 12 hours per week in the classroom. The second would focus on research; its members might spend three or four hours a week with graduate students or doctoral candidates, and perhaps teach one course a year."

"And the courses that professors teach should be much more demanding. At too many colleges and universities today, if students keep paying and attending, they will usually receive a degree. …"

"We must start making changes now, if we want to keep our educational institutions the best in the world. … The answer to high tuition is not more loan programs. The cost of higher education must come down, and academic standards must go up. If members of the academy don’t force change, politicians and taxpayers will – as they are doing with health care and primary and secondary education."

"During the past four years, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education has sought to improve the state’s public institutions by setting aside the status quo. … To sum up: … system-wide tuition has dropped 17 percent, state appropriations have increased 36 percent, and state financial aid to students at public institutions has increased 65 percent. Applications to the state’s public colleges and university are up, acceptance rates are down, and the proportions of accepted students who matriculate are up."

"… We’ve got a lot of problems in higher education: exorbitant tuition, tenure, foolish research, bloated bureaucracies, low admissions and graduation standards, too much remediation, too many programs, light teaching loads, lack of accountability, narrow-minded faculty unions, and shared governance that leaves nobody in charge. Change will come, as parents, students, taxpayers, and elected officials learn more about what really goes on behind the ivy-covered walls. For right to prevail, good men and women need to act – starting now."

"James F. Carlin is a past chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and a former trustee of the University of Massachusetts."

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