Jan 17, 2008 11:47 AM
“Higher education is increasingly a tale of two worlds, with elite schools getting richer and buying up all the talent,” writes Business Week in a survey of college costs and amenities at the “Ivy Plus” colleges, specifically the seven Ivy League schools, plus Stanford and MIT.
It’s not just the fancy digs, such as Princeton’s spanking-new student residence, Whitman College. It’s the fact that the Ivy Plus schools are investing huge sums to enlarge their research role by ripping off top educators from less prestigious schools and developing land parcels that could go to start-up industries or affordable housing. Columbia University is in a tussle with Harlem residents over its massive expansion plans, while Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania are developing whole new science-centric campuses in residential areas.
True, the schools are also shrinking class sizes and increasing financial aid outlays for lower-income students who otherwise couldn’t afford to attend — a good thing, even if it helps few students. The problem is that the nation’s public colleges, which educate three out of four college students, are left in the dust by elite schools that educate just one in 100 college students but hog distinguished faculty members and their research grants. So while Harvard is free to spend $5.7 billion in investment gains generated by its endowment last year, public colleges and universities struggle to cope with rising enrollments and flat state funding.
And it’s not all for education. Stanford spent $4 million to restore the Red Barn, a Victorian-era structure that’s part of the university’s equestrian center and now provides a place for undergraduates to house their own horses at a cost of $500 a month. Seven employees groom and feed the steeds and clean their stalls.
Business Week, Nov. 29