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General Ohio University Discussion/Alumni Events Topic
Topic: Another tuition and room-and-board hike
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SBH
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Posted: 1/18/2019 9:15 AM
Ohio announced the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of price increases. No. 1 justification? Declining enrollment.

Only in the world of higher education do you raise prices when demand for your product declines.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 1/18/2019 11:09 AM
SBH wrote:expand_more
Ohio announced the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of price increases. No. 1 justification? Declining enrollment.

Only in the world of higher education do you raise prices when demand for your product declines.
raise prices and increase middle management....sounds like a secret recipe for something.
rpbobcat
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Posted: 1/18/2019 1:33 PM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
Ohio announced the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of price increases. No. 1 justification? Declining enrollment.

Only in the world of higher education do you raise prices when demand for your product declines.
raise prices and increase middle management....sounds like a secret recipe for something.
I've posted before that I chair FDU's Industry Advisory Committee for Civil Engineering and Civil and Construction Engineering Technology.

The committee is required for FDU to keep their engineering accreditation.

Its composed of faculty and people who work in the engineering field.

Since I started,I could not believe how many administrators,asst.administrators, asst.deans,V.P.'s in charge of _______ there are.

I also can't figure out what most of these people do.
bobcatsquared
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Posted: 1/18/2019 3:34 PM
SBH wrote:expand_more
Ohio announced the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of price increases. No. 1 justification? Declining enrollment.

Only in the world of higher education do you raise prices when demand for your product declines.
Good thing the boys are out of college, no?
OhioCatFan
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Posted: 1/18/2019 5:18 PM
SBH wrote:expand_more
Ohio announced the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of price increases. No. 1 justification? Declining enrollment.

Only in the world of higher education do you raise prices when demand for your product declines.
This is true!

rpbobcat mentioned the administrative bloat in an engineering school. I remember several people in our medical school who had the title of "assistant to the associate dean for XYZ." To be fair, in this case these were real jobs with lots of responsibilities, and they were very much needed. Medical education is a strange beast. However, I was always taken aback by the titles.
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Mike Johnson
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Posted: 1/19/2019 11:29 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
Ohio announced the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of price increases. No. 1 justification? Declining enrollment.

Only in the world of higher education do you raise prices when demand for your product declines.
This is true!

rpbobcat mentioned the administrative bloat in an engineering school. I remember several people in our medical school who had the title of "assistant to the associate dean for XYZ." To be fair, in this case these were real jobs with lots of responsibilities, and they were very much needed. Medical education is a strange beast. However, I was always taken aback by the titles.
How many colleges does OU have? 9? 10? Does each have its own development staff?

How about some schools within the colleges? Do they have their own development staffs?

Having worked at three Fortune 500 companies, I saw staff bloat as something almost inevitable. When times were good, at a senior staff meeting, one person would say, "I have an idea that could significantly increase sales (or market penetration or something else). To make it happen I need an extra manager." No one at the table would object. Why? Because they knew they also might be proposing something similar.

Then when the next inevitable recession hit - I worked through the ones in 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2008 - cutbacks became the order of the day.

I wonder how seriously OU has considered consolidating some staffs - and increasing effectiveness.
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Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
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Posted: 1/19/2019 3:36 PM
Not sure how much the has impacted OU, but at many schools the decline in enrollment is directly tied to fewer international students. They tend to pay full sticker price, so it would make sense that a decline in foreign students could lead to an increase in costs for others.
The Optimist
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Posted: 1/24/2019 3:26 PM
Aren't enrollment declines pretty much a given due to generational demographics alone?
I've seen crazier things happen.
Alan Swank
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Posted: 2/4/2019 1:00 PM
The Optimist wrote:expand_more
Aren't enrollment declines pretty much a given due to generational demographics alone?
Not at top tier schools. Admissions and sales are very similar. Those with the best product and best sales reps do well even in lean times.
Mike Johnson
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Posted: 2/4/2019 1:25 PM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
Aren't enrollment declines pretty much a given due to generational demographics alone?
Not at top tier schools. Admissions and sales are very similar. Those with the best product and best sales reps do well even in lean times.
Just returned from the West Coast where, as usual, I read the LA Times. Saw a story that reported a decrease in applications to UC-Berkeley.
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giacomo
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Posted: 2/8/2019 5:06 PM
I have felt that higher education is currently in a bubble. As many have said, too many admin not teaching. I recall Herschel McNabb of the college of business had a very lean staff during my days. When loans proliferated, the arms race began for those dollars. Many schools are in trouble.
Athens
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Posted: 2/8/2019 10:43 PM
Its tough to say what the longer term forecast is for OU. Another recession could send tons of kids into graduate programs. OU is in a better position than most of the universities across the state having professional colleges, little competition in SE Ohio and a great campus experience for the money.
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Alan Swank
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Posted: 2/9/2019 2:03 PM
Uncle Wes wrote:expand_more
Its tough to say what the longer term forecast is for OU. Another recession could send tons of kids into graduate programs. OU is in a better position than most of the universities across the state having professional colleges, little competition in SE Ohio and a great campus experience for the money.
Yet enrollment is down for the second year in a row. College Credit plus is killing the regional campuses. Less than 5500 at 7 regional campuses.
Andrew Ruck
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Posted: 2/11/2019 11:56 AM
SBH wrote:expand_more
Only in the world of higher education do you raise prices when demand for your product declines.
Sounds like the U.S. Post Office business model the past 20 years.

As a proud Bobcat alum I believe in the full college campus experience...but not at unreasonable and unsustainable cost. Federally backed endless loans and consumer ignorance of the ramifications of those loans has fueled an unbelievable era of over-spending / over-charging for higher education. Quality college education can be offered and administered pretty cheaply. This bubble is going to explode with epic proportions and Universities will be left with lots of fancy buildings, loads of debt, and significantly less students. I hope our university is having these conversations.
Andrew Ruck
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Deciduous Forest Cat
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Posted: 2/11/2019 2:46 PM
Andrew Ruck wrote:expand_more
Only in the world of higher education do you raise prices when demand for your product declines.
Sounds like the U.S. Post Office business model the past 20 years.

As a proud Bobcat alum I believe in the full college campus experience...but not at unreasonable and unsustainable cost. Federally backed endless loans and consumer ignorance of the ramifications of those loans has fueled an unbelievable era of over-spending / over-charging for higher education. Quality college education can be offered and administered pretty cheaply. This bubble is going to explode with epic proportions and Universities will be left with lots of fancy buildings, loads of debt, and significantly less students. I hope our university is having these conversations.
One of our rare points of agreement Andrew!
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