<p>That is interesting because I had almost the same talk with my professor at my former university. What he said was that it is extremely costly to maintain the campus and all of the operations. That tuition did not pay for most of the costs and had to be subsidized or donated. The campus is very well kept; the buildings and scenery are state-of-the-art. You’d think that with all that money it would be “justified” to keep the operation running. </p>
<p>But at the heart, underneath everything, the college is a business. And everything on the campus reflects that. The classes are set up for minimal effort by the professor to grade assignments; everything is standardized and bureaucratized. The students are there to get the degree and have a fun time while doing so. The library has expensive, flashy computers that are very popular for the students, meanwhile the top floors where all the books are located remain deserted. There are neat cafes and shops everywhere and lots of tours for prospective students. </p>
<p>Like you said, there are always exceptions, there are good professors and there are motivated students. But colleges are businesses, and there isn’t a “choice” of remaining academic or not, they have to adapt to the market system or else they lose out. What is the solution? I don’t have one but I do know you cannot put a “price” on education. And if you do put a price on it, the free market will drive down the price in order to attract more buyers at the same time lowering quality of both the teaching and learning, both of professors and students.</p>