CtPost: Ambitious agenda keeps growing for UConn president

[huskyjawz]

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Ambitious-agenda-keeps-growing-for-UConn-president-4227131.php

 

[huskymedic]

"Herbst said UConn, perhaps best known for its men's and women's basketball programs, aspires to be recognized amid top state universities such as UCLA, UC Berkeley, the University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin."

 

[jostar1]

UConn's athletic programs remain a priority for Herbst. She was actively involved in efforts to move UConn from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference, which ultimately failed when Louisville went instead, becoming the fifth football member to leave the Big East in about a year. With ACC membership fluid, UConn could again compete if an opening is available.
But Herbst said the school's mission is teaching, not sports.
"We are a comprehensive research university with a very fine athletic department," she said. "The focus of this university is academics and research."


Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Ambitious-agenda-keeps-growing-for-UConn-president-4227131.php#ixzz2JDh6PcWq

 

[UConnDan97]

It's just hard for me to even fathom that an out-of-state kid is going to be paying 47k per year to attend UConn, much less the near 26k that an in-state kid will have to pay. I guess it's the "going rate" nowadays, but my God, how does anyone afford college for their kids anymore? Something I'll have to figure out in about 15 years or so...

 

[HobokenHusky]

OOS was roughly 26k when I started my freshman year in 2003. Almost doubled in 10 years. Sad to say, but no way I would have been able to go to UConn if I was graduating HS now.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Move to NC. My daughter's semester tuition bill at UNC Chapel Hill is $3,900 (Instate). That does not include housing, meals or books. But man that is sweet. When she transferrred from U of Rochester to UNC I was very pleased.

 

[4UConn]

It's just hard for me to even fathom that an out-of-state kid is going to be paying 47k per year to attend UConn, much less the near 26k that an in-state kid will have to pay. I guess it's the "going rate" nowadays, but my God, how does anyone afford college for their kids anymore? Something I'll have to figure out in about 15 years or so...

My tuition bill at UConn was $587 a semester (73-77). My two kids cost me about $400,000. BIG difference!

 

[Doggie Style]

Move to NC. My daughter's semester tuition bill at UNC Chapel Hill is $3,900 (Instate). That does not include housing, meals or books. But man that is sweet. When she transferrred from U of Rochester to UNC I was very pleased.

Was just about to mention UNC. It's amazing hos they do it down there year after year. They have shopping and REAL restaurants, an amazing campus, sick sports and it costs peanuts to go there! Oh and they are consistently ranked in the top 7 public universities in the country. Uconn should be absolutely embarrassed for what they charge. It's a joke!

 

[ZooCougar]

Was just about to mention UNC. It's amazing hos they do it down there year after year. They have shopping and REAL restaurants, an amazing campus, sick sports and it costs peanuts to go there! Oh and they are consistently ranked in the top 7 public universities in the country. Uconn should be absolutely embarrassed for what they charge. It's a joke!

Agree completely.

Everything costs more up here. People here love to bang on the south, but some parts of it are great. That whole Raleigh-Durham area is great.

You could even compare private colleges. How much does it cost to go to Trinity? How much does it cost to go to Davidson? Davidson was a bargain 15 years ago, probably still is.

 

[J187Money]

I spent 17K for my 4 years at Uconn. It is clearly getting out of hand.

 

[upstater]

Given the state budget cuts, and all the hires UConn intends to make, clearly the tuition is going to go up even more. There's no other way. The thing is, however, the publics she cites already charge more than UConn, and Umass, Vermont, Rutgers and Penn St aren't cheap either. The SUNYs are still at $2,500 a semester, so they have a lot of room to grow should they decide to use tuition to increase revenue.

That being said, public schools should not be charging over $10,000 a year. $10k is affordable for even the poorest kid (pell grants, Direct student loans, 10 hours of work study a week), but if you go above that, a kid without any family money will not be able to work his/her way through school.

 

[Richmondhsky]

Move to NC. My daughter's semester tuition bill at UNC Chapel Hill is $3,900 (Instate). That does not include housing, meals or books. But man that is sweet. When she transferrred from U of Rochester to UNC I was very pleased.

UVA is virtually the same as is William and Mary and every other state university in Virginia. My son went to James Madison...ton of license plates from CT and NJ...OOS tuition just north of in state at UCONN.

 

[ZooCougar]

UVA is virtually the same as is William and Mary and every other state university in Virginia. My son went to James Madison...ton of license plates from CT and NJ...OOS tuition just north of in state at UCONN.

That's the case for most high quality schools in the south. You get more bang for your buck, better looking coeds, better weather. There is a great deal to offer.

 

[The Viking]

In 4 years, take a look at the cost to go to UConn for an in-stater and then take a look at what it's going to cost to go to Central or Eastern or Southern. There won't be much difference but every parent would pick UConn over those schools.

it is what is. Costs were already astronimical when Susan came up here. If she wants to put the school in reverse and stop tuition increases or reduce tuition costs, you can forget ever getting into a big conference because when people start thinking of Connecticut colleges we'll be behind Yale and Quinnipiac for chrissakes.

ain't no one got time for that sweet Jesus.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Given the state budget cuts, and all the hires UConn intends to make, clearly the tuition is going to go up even more. There's no other way. The thing is, however, the publics she cites already charge more than UConn, and Umass, Vermont, Rutgers and Penn St aren't cheap either. The SUNYs are still at $2,500 a semester, so they have a lot of room to grow should they decide to use tuition to increase revenue.

That being said, public schools should not be charging over $10,000 a year. $10k is affordable for even the poorest kid (pell grants, Direct student loans, 10 hours of work study a week), but if you go above that, a kid without any family money will not be able to work his/her way through school.

Many of the kids don't pay full freight. They whole system is insane, at private schools as well. Imagine going to the Honda dealer for an Accord. Some would get a free Accord. Some would pay the $24k, and some would pay $40k to subsidize the free cars. That's higher education pricing in a nutshell.

 

[upstater]

Many of the kids don't pay full freight. They whole system is insane, at private schools as well. Imagine going to the Honda dealer for an Accord. Some would get a free Accord. Some would pay the $24k, and some would pay $40k to subsidize the free cars. That's higher education pricing in a nutshell.

Very few scholarships at state universities. It simply doesn't happen. What you describe is only true of private schools, but even then, many don't have that system. Schools like Seton Hall actually dropped tuition because they did away with need-blind admissions (i.e. they ain't handing out bundles of scholarship money anymore). That will eventually assure Seton Hall a uniform student body of students with the exact same experience in life. Other schools like Harvard and the Ivies only fleece the richest of the rich (i.e. even 6-figure parents get 80% subsidies). I don't cry for the parents who willingly pay their kids way into, say, Salve Regina or Roger Williams. It's their decision. And the fact is, if you want your kid going to the best schools and you can pay the entire freight, do NOT check the box that makes them eligible for scholarships. Schools love it when you announce on the application that you will pay full freight if admitted. It's called: affirmative action.

 

[huskymedic]

Many of the kids don't pay full freight. They whole system is insane, at private schools as well. Imagine going to the Honda dealer for an Accord. Some would get a free Accord. Some would pay the $24k, and some would pay $40k to subsidize the free cars. That's higher education pricing in a nutshell.

Not looking to get kicked to the Cesspool but that example is our healthcare system as well.

 

[UConnDan97]

It's really tough. I understand that we want to be the greatest state university that the world has ever seen. And I also understand the argument that if people want cheaper in-state universities, they can choose the "directionals" (Central, Eastern, etc.). And I further understand the idea that there are many private universities that still charge double the amount we do.

But deep down, I feel like UConn should also not stray far from it's ultimate mission; to be a top-notch PUBLIC education for the people of the state of Connecticut. I feel like these prices are starting to drive some away that would otherwise qualify, as well as the fact that the out of state tuition will really begin to shrink the diversity of the school (when I was there, there was a large amount of people from RI, MA, NJ, NY, PA). I'm not sure the population will be as varied anymore, considering the OOS pays $200,000 for a 4-year education. There has to be another way...

 

[John Greene]

Susan Herbst or any UConn president faces a real problem over the next 10-15 years. With a very small endowment it must rely on tuition increases in the face of state funding problems. She talks about raising the endowment but that is easier said than done. The other alternative would be to somehow get more out of state students which pay a higher ticket. But if you do an analysis of the relative costs ,taking into account the average time to graduate, it makes more economic sense to go to a private school in CT that costs 55K per year but where the average student graduates in 4.6 years rather than UConn which costs 40K but the average time to graduate is 5.5 years. All you have to do is earn more than 33K in your first year of work to come out ahead. Note also that this does not take into account the probability of getting some form of grant from either the private or UConn. This makes UConn not very attractive to anyone from out of state.

 

[RS9999X]

Remember this when the attendance issue comes up again. Medical costs, educational loans, gas--compare the disposable incomes of grads 10 years ago and today.

 

[kibblesnbits]

Move to NC. My daughter's semester tuition bill at UNC Chapel Hill is $3,900 (Instate). That does not include housing, meals or books. But man that is sweet. When she transferrred from U of Rochester to UNC I was very pleased.

UNC is a great school, but it's costs are not dramatically different from UConn's. Full cost this year for in-state is $22K+ in a state with a lower per capita income (although that does include $1,500 for insurance which I presume can be waived if the student has other coverage). Furthermore, according to the UNC website, they are setting the expectation that new students should plan for a rise in tuition and fees and noted that increases over the last four years have averaged 7% per year. All states are squeezing higher education budgets so, unfortunately, that is not unusual.

It's hard to imagine that college costs can continue to increase at such rates, but I've also been saying that for nearly a decade and they have continued their steady growth rate far in excess of cost of living or family income growth.

 

[Nostical]

Best part of the article was the mention of how much harder the Board of Trustees is working. Susan has the place moving at warp speed. The BOT used to skate through the year and treat their meetings more as social gatherings. No more. Herbst's precient statement of seeing UConn "more like Michigan" is on course. The list of projects on her plate and what she's been able to accomplish is very impressive, just like that spinning plate guy on Ed Sullivan. The rest of the sports related issues we care about will come in time.

Imagine where we'd be if this frenzied pace had commenced back in 2003. Living in Boston, I saw a similar transformation occur when John Henry bought The Red Sox. After years of fumbling along under prior caretaker ownership and managment (akin to our troika of Austin, Hogan and Hathaway, LLC--lol)), and even contemplating the lunacy of building a new stadium, in comes Henry who adds all kinds of unheard of renovations to Fenway, sells advertising and big money designations as the "Official" provider of various goods and services of The Red Sox. He then takes far outfield unused (wasted) space and creates innovative seating by thinking outside the box (Think the old regime had ever thooght of green monster seats? And charging the highest prices for the priviledge of sitting there?) Rather than view Fenway as a worn out ballpark needing replacement, he constantly tinkered with and revived the crown jewel he realized he already had in Fenway. The profound difference in his approach, attitude, and intelligent managment transformed the team and its bottom line.

Now Herbst is doing the same at UConn, asking tough "why not" questions and having the vision to push hard for Storrs Center, a Biotech research center, a Tech complex, the BBall facility, upgrading Hockey, moving the W Htfd campus, bucking all current trends by hiring lots more faculty to pursue many more research grants (see AAU) and like John Henry did, deftly used the timing of her improvments to raise prices. It's brilliant, and its working. Give Herbst another 3 years and you won't recognize what UConn has become. Now we just need the stars to align on conference affiliation. But I wouldn't count her out---I saw her recently with a telescope, looking skyward.

 

[J187Money]

Susan Herbst or any UConn president faces a real problem over the next 10-15 years. With a very small endowment it must rely on tuition increases in the face of state funding problems. She talks about raising the endowment but that is easier said than done. The other alternative would be to somehow get more out of state students which pay a higher ticket. But if you do an analysis of the relative costs ,taking into account the average time to graduate, it makes more economic sense to go to a private school in CT that costs 55K per year but where the average student graduates in 4.6 years rather than UConn which costs 40K but the average time to graduate is 5.5 years. All you have to do is earn more than 33K in your first year of work to come out ahead. Note also that this does not take into account the probability of getting some form of grant from either the private or UConn. This makes UConn not very attractive to anyone from out of state.

Time to graduate has little to do with the school. Most of the kids that take that long do so because they either f around or don't seek help figuring out where they are going.

 

[Stinger92860]

Susan Herbst or any UConn president faces a real problem over the next 10-15 years. With a very small endowment it must rely on tuition increases in the face of state funding problems. She talks about raising the endowment but that is easier said than done. The other alternative would be to somehow get more out of state students which pay a higher ticket. But if you do an analysis of the relative costs ,taking into account the average time to graduate, it makes more economic sense to go to a private school in CT that costs 55K per year but where the average student graduates in 4.6 years rather than UConn which costs 40K but the average time to graduate is 5.5 years. All you have to do is earn more than 33K in your first year of work to come out ahead. Note also that this does not take into account the probability of getting some form of grant from either the private or UConn. This makes UConn not very attractive to anyone from out of state.

All 3 of my daughters graduated in 4 years. They have little debt, about 2k which I asked them to do to have a little skin in the game. Each grad started at 55k or better with one to go. For me it's a bargain. At first I wished my youngest had taken the d2 stipend to play Bball, but the reality is that she loves her uconn time.

 

[upstater]

Time to graduate has little to do with the school. Most of the kids that take that long do so because they either f around or don't seek help figuring out where they are going.

Just not true. Part of the cuts at mine and many other schools has been staff cuts which lead to both increased class sizes but also mostly course reductions. In other words, we only offer the classes kids need to graduate (which is nearly all of them) once a year (at best). Many students get frozen out by class caps and/or scheduling problems. And this is happening when for many majors you only need to take 10 courses. Topping it all off is that half my students work at least half time, and many full time.

So, schools have tried to address this. How? Lowering standards. (i.e. Fewer courses in the major, fewer Gen. Ed. requirements) Students are essentially paying more for less.