Wealth Disparities

Kevin writes below about the headline from the report released yesterday by the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs--that students are paying more for college, but not getting more (and in some cases getting less). But another important finding from the Delta Project's report is the large and growing wealth disparity between private research universities and pretty much everyone else. While spending per student at most institutions has remained flat or declined over the past 10 years, spending per student at private research universities has increased steadily.

As today's New York Times article states:

[The study] describes a system that is increasingly stratified: the smallest number of students — about 1 million out of a total 18 million students — attend the private research universities that spend the most per student. The largest number of students — 6 million — attend community colleges, which spend the least per student, and have cut spending most sharply as government aid has declined.

Figure 14 from the report shows this disparity:

While no one is suggesting that we redistribute wealth among colleges and universities, policymakers should be concerned about this trend. If we continue on this path--and in particular, if states continue to reduce subsidies to public colleges--we could end up with a two-tiered higher education system: a few students will be able to attend elite, well-funded institutions, while the rest of us get our college degrees from schools that are constantly cutting corners.