<p>Is the justifying scenario that the article lays out–public schools can’t afford to offer some more expensive courses, hence they are in danger of losing their accreditation–something that’s actually affected some campuses? I can imagine a campus shutting down an expensive major, though maybe first there’d be an appeal to alumni. If a program is expensive and underutilized, and if its graduates don’t feel strongly enough to support it at some level, it may make sense to put it on the chopping block. </p>
<p>Science and engineering professors at a research school bring in grant money. At least, they’re supposed to. So they may be paid more, but they are also bringing in some revenue. Makes it sound like the justification for paying the football coach big $$$, lol. </p>
<p>One scary thought: a student on a budget goes to sign up for courses, and can only find expensive ones. Or maybe they can’t find enough of the cheap courses to get enough credit hours to qualify as full-time.</p>