I heard an interesting interview with a Danish early elementary teacher which re-opened schools a couple weeks ago.
They have 1/2 the kids in school at a time for just over 1/2 a day. She said rather than doing every subject every day in blocks, they are re-organizing the curriculum so that there’s a ‘theme’ and they go deeper into that theme of the day. Part of that theme involved taking the kids outside for part of their lessons/learning. It sounded like b/c the class is smaller and the day is shorter, that was an easier way to organize the day.
I did not get the impression the other half of the class was zooming in.
Are some colleges considering a late start? Yesterday a trustee from Colby College was on CNBC talking about possibly starting as late as Dec/Jan in order to ensure a full in-person year. Anyone have any thoughts? My son is finishing his first year at Colby.
Did they discuss in the interview what the parents working outside the home did with their children the other 1/2 of the working day? Who watched their kids? Did they go to daycare?
Lot’s of people have already lost their jobs, taken pay cuts, or had their hours cut. We’ll probably add another $10 Trillion to the deficit. Everyone is going to take some type of hair-cut on this whether it’s lower/no pay or higher taxes. Either way the standard of living for the whole most likely will be lower.
Tuition based on future earnings. Pay back when you can? I like the idea but colleges could have done that years ago. If I remember there were a few schools who tried this but never caught on. Wonder why? Not part of the higher ed business model. You would also have to write-off the $1.6 Trillion in student loans (and growing) to be fair. As far as X% paying back…they already do with donations to the school’s endowment.
I’ve taught a few classes as an adjunct at a local CC. Low pay for the hours put in but usually a good mix of students. That said I always chuckle when I hear secondary school teachers or professors say they could make more in the private sector. Maybe a generation ago that was true. Not today.
A few superstar Phd’s might be able to but not a lot. If that were the case they’d be leaving academia in droves. I don’t see that happening. Median US salary is what…maybe $60K/year with 2 weeks vacation, so-so benefits, and no pension. Also expected to perform every day on a flexible schedule. In PA at least, being a teacher is a coveted job. I don’t recall meeting many ex-teachers working in the private sector. I’ve met more than a few teachers who left the private sector though. My senior son’s math teacher is a CMU grad who left the private sector. Another teacher was dentist.
@massmom2018 - S18 is finishing his sophomore year at Colby. I have read comments from David Green in a few places and he has been pretty consistent in saying he would prefer a late opening rather than staying on-line, but I did not hear as late as Dec/Jan! I know my son and his roommates have recently been talking about taking a leave if classes are fully on-line, so maybe they are getting a lot of that feedback. By eliminating Jan Plan, the school has some flexibility to start late, but a Dec/Jan start would mean summer classes. I know a rising senior at Amherst and he recently told me that Amherst is considering three terms (Fall/Spring/Summer) in order to reduce the number of students on campus during any one term. All of the NESCAC’s are talking so I am wondering if others are considering this plan as well.
Yes, the NESCACs are all talking, but Bowdoin’s Pres said that all the NESCACs are unlikely to choose the same path…I took that to mean from both a remote vs in-person basis, and also from a calendar perspective (they do not all have the same calendar now).
Some schools have said they will start the fall term early. Some schools have said they might start the fall term late. Others have said they decided to start the fall term on schedule (either in-person or remotely). They’re trying to make the best decision based on their own situation, but they’re all operating in the dark at the moment.
It’s nice that some people can be so cavalier about other people losing their jobs. “Letting a few people go until things pick up” isn’t reality. We’ve already been told that if there are layoffs we should expect that they’re permanent.
I don’t think people understand how endowments work. It’s not like an open bank account that you can spend however you want. They’re legal trusts and there are rules that have to be followed. An endowment might be set up with rules that allow you to spend it on x or y, but everything else is off limits. The unrestricted funds can be used, but colleges try to limit spending to only the income. This year they took a huge loss so income is less than they expected. If they spend down the principal to balance the budget then every year there will be less income. Eventually, the endowment would run out.
I don’t think most people know why endowments exist. The purpose of the endowments is to make sure the institution continues for generations to come. In the short-term they’re used to provide programs for your kids and financial aid to those who need it, but those are secondary goals. The primary goal is the survival of the institution.
I take home $19k/ year at an expensive private. I can’t afford to send my children to residential college on my salary and my benefits don’t include the 50% tuition benefit that all the well paid administration and faculty members get. If I’m allowed to keep my job, which is doubtful, I’ll be working fewer hours/week (my actual workload will be unchanged) and taking home $17k/year. Why? Because somebody has to pay for the tuition discounts everyone wants for missing out on the residential college experience for a semester.
College budgets are being balanced on the backs of the poor. So go demand discounts if you want because you’re upset that your kid isn’t getting the full residential experience. Just be honest with yourselves about who you’re taking the money from. It’s not a faceless endowment.
But understand that this isn’t a single year budget shortfall. Colleges lost money in the market so income from endowments will be lower for quite a while, and they had to pay out money they hadn’t planned on for tuition and room & board refunds. There are projected 3-5 year shortfalls. So they’ll furlough and lay off who they can and cut salaries of whoever’s left. But after they run out of people to furlough and lay off, they’re going to have to reduce programs. Tuckethannock did a great job of laying out what those are. The biggest item in the table is need based aid. Private colleges are known for giving a lot of it. But you can’t give what you don’t have.
If endowments exist to ensure the survival of the institution, now would seem to be the ideal time for many schools to tap them, as their survival is in doubt.
I think its silly - what happens in January when flu season kicks in? What is going to change in the fall? The summer should be (very likely will be) the lowest numbers until we get a vaccine - so colleges should start early, not late, in my opinion.
If it turns out August/September is bad, then go ahead with a January start, but why make that bet now?
@roycroftmom – in the abstract, that sounds right. But I’ve worked in philanthropy and there are legal agreements in place about how money can be spent when it’s donated. You can’t just tap into it and use for general operating support (or any other expense not specified by the donor) unless the donor (or the donor’s estate) says it’s okay. There are some unrestricted funds, yes, but the vast majority of $$ is tied to specific scholarships, buildings, or initiatives.
Colleges may go to some living high value donors and ask for more flexibility. But figuring out if or how to re-direct funds from a donor who died 50 years ago, for example, would not be fast or easy. Thousands of those contributions make up an endowment’s corpus. That’s just the reality.
It would be interesting if schools rewrote their endowments so “X” amount can be pulled out for things that the schools would need in times like these. Like 10% or something. Again, most likely not.
I understand trusts. I’m the trustee of one (not by choice). There are rules but they can be modified if necessary. As long as all parties agree. It can be done.
Endowments are there to make sure the school survives first and foremost. Exactly my point. If schools don’t invest in current technologies and trends they won’t be around in 5 years. The endowment could be used to fund some of this.
Have endowments lost money and how much? The stock market has bounced back somewhat. How much should endowments have in the stock market? How risky should they be? I’m sure the Asset Managers do just fine.
Have and have-nots are the same in private sector. Companies can layoff thousands yet CEO gets big bonus. It stinks but happens all the time. Your experience really shows the divide in the growing wealth inequality.
It really comes back to the “gutting” of the working middle class. That’s what funded a lot of our “extras”. I suspect the “extras” will continue disappearing.
@MFW2012 – it’s a good very good question, and I’m not a complete expert on this. Because an endowment is comprised of thousands of donations and legal agreements, I think there’s no singular answer. When a college closes, there’s an examination of endowment donations and their agreements to see what clauses are included, if any, about what to do in the case of a college closing. Sometimes the college prolly keeps the $$ to pay any debts. In other cases, there may be a clause around closure saying that remaining money is returned to the donor/estate.
I should add that if you just give to an annual fund, the college has much more discretion and there’s obviously no legal agreement. But the bulk of an endowment’s value comes in the form of big donations with legal stipulations and agreements attached.
But we aren’t asking anyone to dig into the bulk of their endowment. There should be enough unrestricted funds, with liquidity, to assist in this situation.
the STOCK market took a hit, but came back and is slightly below all time highs. Certainly higher than it was even 4 years ago. The endowment should be diversified and count on general fluctuations and should not count on 25% year over year increases like in the last 4 years. Its not the market’s fault if they can’t tap into some of their endowment earnings.
I wonder if the endowment restrictions are on the capital amounts donated or are also restricted on the earnings those capital amounts have produced. Earnings in the last 10 years would have increased the value of the endowment by huge amounts.
It says a lot of the same things folks have been saying here, but I also thought this paragraph at the end was interesting:
"In California, which was among the earliest states to shut down, Mr. Khosla said that if any campus could responsibly open, it would be U.C. San Diego. The campus has two teaching hospitals and some of the nation’s leading experts in epidemiology and infectious disease.
And, he said, there are opportunities in crisis.
“This is a research institution,” Mr. Khosla said. “What we learn could teach us a lot about how to manage pandemics like this.”