College tuition has soared in the past two decades — and so, too, has the number of paper pushers at major research universities.
The proportion of administrators, managers and other nonteaching professionals at America’s top 198 research universities shot up by 43 percent from 1993 to 2010, according to an analysis by The Daily of information that colleges report annually to the Department of Education.
There were about 9.7 full-time administrators, managers and nonteaching professionals for every 100 students at major research universities in 2010 — up from about 6.8 in 1993. During the same period, the number of full-time professors and others teaching and doing research stayed roughly flat.
Much of the growth came from universities and colleges adding a broad array of professionals, including loan counselors, coaches, social workers, technology experts, doctors and dentists.
“The reason for it is, essentially, mission creep,” said Jay Greene, head of the department of education reform at the University of Arkansas. “Universities have extended far beyond their traditional set of responsibilities of trying to produce and disseminate knowledge and have become essentially nonprofit conglomerates with fingers in a variety of activities, businesses and services — and those cost a ton of money.”
The Daily’s look at education statistics is modeled after a 2010 study published by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute, in which Greene and his co-authors found that the same 198 research universities had 9.4 administrators, managers and other professionals per 100 students in 2007.
Even during a bruising recession that led states to slash higher education budgets and battered private school endowments, the number of administrators, managers and other professionals per 100 students who aren’t involved in teaching or research rose about 3 percent from 2007 to 2010.
The average inflation-adjusted price of a year’s tuition has nearly quadrupled at public schools and almost tripled at private schools over the last three decades, according to College Board data. The Daily calculated last month that if tuitions continue climbing at the same average rate, the Class of 2034 would face average sticker prices in 2011 dollars of nearly $81,000 for four years of public school and more than $232,000 at a private school.
President Obama even spotlighted the need to control college costs in last month’s State of the Union address.
It is difficult to tell how much of the increases stem from the so-called “rock-climbing-wall effect,” or schools adding fancy fitness facilities, study-abroad programs and other services.
But a study by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity showed support staff was the fastest-growing sector of the full-time college labor force over the 20 years preceding the recession. Spending on student services at four-year colleges and universities rose more in percentage terms than instruction or research spending between 2002 and 2009, according to the Delta Cost Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity and Accountability.
Several experts said burdensome regulatory and reporting requirements, keeping up with rapidly changing technology and the nature of higher education as a service industry with a highly educated labor force, have played a larger role in tuition hikes than additional counselors and student activities specialists.
Many well-staffed universities won’t even discuss the issue. Columbia University declined to comment on why administrative staff has doubled since 1993, to 31 administrators and support staffers per 100 students.
Some schools said their numbers include physicians and nursing staff who work at large, university-affiliated medical centers, but have little to do with traditional university functions. Most extreme was Vanderbilt University, where the 67 administrative staff members shrinks to 12 when medical school employees are excluded.
Administrative hiring is a hot topic among professors, a growing number of whom work part-time. One consequence is that professional advisers — not professors — are more likely to help students choose courses and majors.
“Faculty members are less permanent — they’re not necessarily on a career track, and it means they’re not as available to do administrative tasks in addition to teaching,” Curtis said. “I think a lot of faculty members feel they should be more involved with [advising], but they are feeling more pressure to do more teaching and more publication.”
Western Michigan University has only 2.4 administrators and support staff per 100 students and relies on faculty to advise students, refine curriculum and coordinate study-abroad programs, said Timothy Greene, provost and vice-president for academic affairs.
“We’re constantly worried about not having enough support staff, but we’re trying also to keep our costs down,” Greene said.
Still, Western Michigan’s tuition rose more than 6 percent this year after a 15 percent state funding cut. At least 25 states chopped higher education budgets this fiscal year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and most experts say the cuts have played a major role in tuition hikes.
Some schools say there are good explanations for support staff increases.
“There clearly is an increase [in support staff and administrators], but it’s not at all clear to me ... that higher education is particularly unusual,” said Robert Archibald, an economics professor at the College of William and Mary who writes frequently about higher education costs. “Some of the support staff are supporting the ever-growing role of information technology, and that’s happening … in lots of other industries as well.”
At William and Mary, Archibald said the university has hired development staff to raise money, which should boost revenue. He also said colleges and universities have had to hire more counselors, tutors and mental health professionals to help students with learning disabilities and psychological issues.
Julia McCallin, associate vice president for human resources at the California Institute of Technology, said the university has hired more people partly because it must pursue more grants to fund research even as experimental protocols and tracking grants have grown more cumbersome.
While salaries have remained relatively flat in recent years, health benefits for university employees, particularly at four-year public universities, have risen more dramatically — about 5 percent a year between 2002 and 2008, according to Delta Project data.
“If there’s a single smoking gun on the spending side, it’s employee benefits,” said Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project. “If we don’t solve the health care spending problem in higher education, the rest is kinderspiel [child’s play].”
Some experts told The Daily increasing public funding to universities could help them hold tuition steady.
But Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economics professor and director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, said the growing army of higher education bureaucrats is helping fuel tuition hikes — and more money will only make things worse.
“We’ve had these huge, huge increases in tuition that have been partly brought about by stagnations in state appropriations, but partly because of the huge increases in student loans and Pell grants … all of which make it easier for universities to raise prices,” Vedder said. “They say, ‘Well, maybe we can hire an assistant dean, or a diversity coordinator.’ ”
Ashley.Kindergan@thedaily.com
The proportion of administrators, managers and other nonteaching professionals at America’s top 198 research universities shot up by 43 percent from 1993 to 2010, according to an analysis by The Daily of information that colleges report annually to the Department of Education.
There were about 9.7 full-time administrators, managers and nonteaching professionals for every 100 students at major research universities in 2010 — up from about 6.8 in 1993. During the same period, the number of full-time professors and others teaching and doing research stayed roughly flat.
Much of the growth came from universities and colleges adding a broad array of professionals, including loan counselors, coaches, social workers, technology experts, doctors and dentists.
“The reason for it is, essentially, mission creep,” said Jay Greene, head of the department of education reform at the University of Arkansas. “Universities have extended far beyond their traditional set of responsibilities of trying to produce and disseminate knowledge and have become essentially nonprofit conglomerates with fingers in a variety of activities, businesses and services — and those cost a ton of money.”
The Daily’s look at education statistics is modeled after a 2010 study published by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute, in which Greene and his co-authors found that the same 198 research universities had 9.4 administrators, managers and other professionals per 100 students in 2007.
Even during a bruising recession that led states to slash higher education budgets and battered private school endowments, the number of administrators, managers and other professionals per 100 students who aren’t involved in teaching or research rose about 3 percent from 2007 to 2010.
The average inflation-adjusted price of a year’s tuition has nearly quadrupled at public schools and almost tripled at private schools over the last three decades, according to College Board data. The Daily calculated last month that if tuitions continue climbing at the same average rate, the Class of 2034 would face average sticker prices in 2011 dollars of nearly $81,000 for four years of public school and more than $232,000 at a private school.
President Obama even spotlighted the need to control college costs in last month’s State of the Union address.
It is difficult to tell how much of the increases stem from the so-called “rock-climbing-wall effect,” or schools adding fancy fitness facilities, study-abroad programs and other services.
But a study by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity showed support staff was the fastest-growing sector of the full-time college labor force over the 20 years preceding the recession. Spending on student services at four-year colleges and universities rose more in percentage terms than instruction or research spending between 2002 and 2009, according to the Delta Cost Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity and Accountability.
Several experts said burdensome regulatory and reporting requirements, keeping up with rapidly changing technology and the nature of higher education as a service industry with a highly educated labor force, have played a larger role in tuition hikes than additional counselors and student activities specialists.
Many well-staffed universities won’t even discuss the issue. Columbia University declined to comment on why administrative staff has doubled since 1993, to 31 administrators and support staffers per 100 students.
Some schools said their numbers include physicians and nursing staff who work at large, university-affiliated medical centers, but have little to do with traditional university functions. Most extreme was Vanderbilt University, where the 67 administrative staff members shrinks to 12 when medical school employees are excluded.
Administrative hiring is a hot topic among professors, a growing number of whom work part-time. One consequence is that professional advisers — not professors — are more likely to help students choose courses and majors.
“Faculty members are less permanent — they’re not necessarily on a career track, and it means they’re not as available to do administrative tasks in addition to teaching,” Curtis said. “I think a lot of faculty members feel they should be more involved with [advising], but they are feeling more pressure to do more teaching and more publication.”
Western Michigan University has only 2.4 administrators and support staff per 100 students and relies on faculty to advise students, refine curriculum and coordinate study-abroad programs, said Timothy Greene, provost and vice-president for academic affairs.
“We’re constantly worried about not having enough support staff, but we’re trying also to keep our costs down,” Greene said.
Still, Western Michigan’s tuition rose more than 6 percent this year after a 15 percent state funding cut. At least 25 states chopped higher education budgets this fiscal year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and most experts say the cuts have played a major role in tuition hikes.
Some schools say there are good explanations for support staff increases.
“There clearly is an increase [in support staff and administrators], but it’s not at all clear to me ... that higher education is particularly unusual,” said Robert Archibald, an economics professor at the College of William and Mary who writes frequently about higher education costs. “Some of the support staff are supporting the ever-growing role of information technology, and that’s happening … in lots of other industries as well.”
At William and Mary, Archibald said the university has hired development staff to raise money, which should boost revenue. He also said colleges and universities have had to hire more counselors, tutors and mental health professionals to help students with learning disabilities and psychological issues.
Julia McCallin, associate vice president for human resources at the California Institute of Technology, said the university has hired more people partly because it must pursue more grants to fund research even as experimental protocols and tracking grants have grown more cumbersome.
While salaries have remained relatively flat in recent years, health benefits for university employees, particularly at four-year public universities, have risen more dramatically — about 5 percent a year between 2002 and 2008, according to Delta Project data.
“If there’s a single smoking gun on the spending side, it’s employee benefits,” said Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project. “If we don’t solve the health care spending problem in higher education, the rest is kinderspiel [child’s play].”
Some experts told The Daily increasing public funding to universities could help them hold tuition steady.
But Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economics professor and director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, said the growing army of higher education bureaucrats is helping fuel tuition hikes — and more money will only make things worse.
“We’ve had these huge, huge increases in tuition that have been partly brought about by stagnations in state appropriations, but partly because of the huge increases in student loans and Pell grants … all of which make it easier for universities to raise prices,” Vedder said. “They say, ‘Well, maybe we can hire an assistant dean, or a diversity coordinator.’ ”
Ashley.Kindergan@thedaily.com
