1953 news clippings

              THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO I .2*>. J	C? I •W y -rt I -> JI
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY - ARCHIVES
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CUIPPINQ FROM NEWSPAPER.
DATE.


TLE OR ARTICLE .
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EDUCATION IN REVIEW
What One University Is Doing to Meet Rising Costs Without Lowering Standards,
!
By BEXJAMIN FIXE
PROVIDENCE, R. I., Jan. 3—It is generally recognized that the cost of operating a college, like the cost of living, has just about doubled in recent years. But it is not so well known just how the increased costs have affected the professors, the students and the college administration itself. Has the standard of education deteriorated. Are the coUeges ready to close their doors? In what way has inflation influenced the course of higher educaUon in this country?
To get concrete answers to these and similar questions, this reporter visited a more or less typical American university. The institution selected. Brown University, is 190 years old and is situated in New England. Brown has an undergraduate student body of 2,000, a graduate enrollment of 400 and a coordinated women’s division—Pembroke College—with a student group of 800. The institution does not pretend to he the lEirgest or the most important college in the country. It prides itself on quality of instruction, rather than the quantity.
The president. Dr. Henry M. Wriston, is generally regarded as one of the top college heads in the country. He is a past president of the Association of American Universities, and in that post was in large measure responsible for creating the nation-wide study of the financial conditions of American colleges and universities, sponsored by the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations. The commission recently issued its three-year study and offered suggestions for the financial improvement of the naUon’s colleges.
As a case study, Brown University offers a good picture of what is happening to coUeges elsewhere. The problems found on this campus can he duplicated in the Middle Atlantic States, in the South, in the Midwest and on the Pacific Coast. While the deUils may differ, the general outline is the same. Here, as elsewhere, the urgent need for greater public support becomes adl too evident.
Cost and Enrollment Up
If we take a look at the “before” Md “after situation—comparing 1942 with 1952—the tremendous surge in enrollment and the equally great increase in operating costs become evident. Back in 1942 Brown University had an operating budget of 52,000,000. Today it is 56,600,000. During the past several years the imiversity has been unable to make ends meet. The operating deficit for the past two years has been about 5185,000 annually.
But Brown has been luckier than most coUeges: it had a “stabUization fund” of 5500,000, saved for just such emergencies. This fund has now been depleted. In the last tiscai year the university had to dip into its reserves to meet the operating deficit. What will happen next year? The university plans to step up its fund-raising campaign by going after corporations, big business, alumni and friends.
What happens to those institutions that do not have special funds to tap? Many are forced to weaken their financial structure unfortunately, or to lower their academic standards. Here, too. Brown is in a fortunate position— its endowment has gone up during the past ten years from 511,500,000 to 515,-000,000. The increase has not grown as fast as the operating expenses, however.
Comparison of Expenses
Why does Brown find itself in the red? Where does the money go? The skyrocketing costs of running a college or university can he seen graphically through the expense figures presented here.
1941-42	1951-S2
Ficuli^ talarlM. . f.. .5454,000 Maintenance (buildingt ____
and grounds) ... 236,000	476,000
Dormitory and dining
halls .......... 133,000	1,700,000
Almost everything that the college uses in the way of equipment and supplies has gone skyward. Here is a comparative price list:
1940	1952
Letterhead paper.. 5 1.00 ream	5 2.50 ream
a-page exam book. ,33 pkg	1.00 pkg
Library chair..... 13.00	38.00
Desk, steel .... 60.40	115.00
Microscope ......170.00	334.00
Crucible, porcelain. .28	■**
Evaporating dish,	, ..
porcelain.........50	10*
Other major expenses bring about the financial pUghL For example, the university’s contribution to the professors’ retirement fund has gone up. Ten years ago the institution contributed 5 per cent, todax it 's

cent. Actually the increasi than double because the iiniiif^ wily itum I pays 10 per cent of 51,828,000 as against 5 per cent of 5850,000. Labor costs have increased, too.
To keep the budget down, various economies have been made. Two years ago the university had twenty-four kitchens—this year there are six. Savings are made through a central purchasing department. Here is one small example: in the past all phonograph records were purchased by the different divisions in a near-by retail store. Today they are bought at a wholesale place, with a saving of 30 per cent.' Not much in itself, but it all adds up
A centi-al stenographic bureau has been established with a “pool” of available stenographers. An I. B. M. machine has been installed in the controllers office, with subsequent savings on payroll lists, alumni lists, etc A central photographic laboratory cuts down on expenses, too. The university employed a man who did nothing but wmd the many docks on the campus. Electric clocks, recenUJ- installed do not need this attention. Wherever possible, mechanical devices have been installed to replace hand labor; as a result there has been a 25 per cent re-duction in the number of employes in ^e buildings and gi-ounds division. The university estimates it saves a mmimum of 5126,000 annually on plant maintenance alone.
High Standards Maintained
However, Dr. Wriston stressed that no economies have been made at the wpense of the students or faculties.
professors have received substantial pay increases, although “we do not pay them enough even now,” the Brown president remarked. It is impossible, he pointed out, to increase the teaching load without impairing teaching or research. Nor have necessary courses been dropped. At all costs, regardless of operating deficits the university intends to maintain its high academic standards.
Tuition fees at Brown, as elsewhere throughout the country, have gone up imtil today thejr are the highest in long history of this institution. Students pay a tuition fee of 5700 plus a general fee of 590, making a total of 5790. Before the American Revolution, tuition at Brown was 512 a year. After the Revolution it jumped to 516
According to Dr. Bruce M. Bigelow vice president of the university, student fees at Brown have mirrored the national scene, with the wars playing a major role in the Inflation. Before the Civil War the annual tuition fee was 536. Five years after the war it went up to 575 and in seven more years to 5100. At the beginning of World I War I the tuition was set at 5175, but by 1919 it went up to 5200. By' 1930 the tuition had been raised to' 5400. The increases began after World
jumped
to 5690, and this year another 5100 was added.
T^e university officials are aware that tuition fees have gone just about as high as they can without freezing out competent studenU. Scholarships student aid have greatly increased.
university allocated 5186,000 to its StudenU in the form of scholarship aid—this year it has gone up to 5714.000. This, of course, Is an-other factor in the unbalanced budget.
What does all this add up to'' Dr Wriston believes that the coming year will find the colleges in a stronger and more encouraging position. College enrollment, for one thing, has sUbilized. Corporations and business concerns are ready to provide more money than they have in the past. The colleges, also, are eager to seek more funds for their endowments. The annual giving by alumni is being stepped up on most campuses.
Will the colleges balance their budg-^ Js not important. Dr. Wriston suggesU. The important iMue is not the immediate balancing of the budget but whether the college can balance It over a period of years Brown University has not been able to live within iU operating income in recent years. But it hopes to get greater support from the community and from : lU other friends through a concentrated appeal for funds.
Brown’s plan is probably the answer for all institutions of higher learning which are facing bleak financial days. Only as the American colleges and universities receive greater support will they be able to continue to serve the nation in the years ahead.
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