Wednesday, November 29, 2006
More now than ever
Courtesy of reader Peter Lorenzi, a table of information on universities now versus forty years ago.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Ed. Peter was struck by the rise in income from the NCAA basketball tournament. What interests me even more is that college expenditures per student -- I'm not sure what that includes or excludes, has risen less than expenditures by colleges and universities, which has risen less than federal budget outlays to colleges. Is the federal government handing out middle class entitlements by taking on an increasing cost of college education? And are colleges and universities increasing their expenditures because of third-party payers like the federal government?
| 1966 | Characteristic | 2006| | Change |
| 2,329 | Number of colleges and universities | 4,216 | 81% |
| 6,390,000 | Total college enrollment | 17,648,000 | 176% |
| 40 | Percent of college students that are | 58 | 45% |
| women | |||
| 9.8 | Percent of people over 25 with four or | 27.6 | 182% |
| more years of college | |||
| 20,617 | Doctoral degrees awarded | 50,500 | 145% |
| 157,726 | Masters degrees awarded | 603,000 | 282% |
| 17,795 | MBAs awarded | 101,000 | 468% |
| 558,534 | Bachelor's degrees awarded | 1,488,000 | 166% |
| 139,183 | Associate degrees awarded | 686,000 | 393% |
| 31,695 | Professional degrees awarded | 87,400 | 176% |
| $1,456 | Private four-year annual tuition and fees | $22,218 | 1426% |
| $360 | Public four-year annual tuition and fees | $5,836 | 1521% |
| 17 | Percent first-year students who smoke frequently | 5.8 | -66% |
| 64.2 | Percent first-year males drink beer frequent/occasional | 49.1 | -24% |
| $12.50 | Annual expenditures by colleges (billions) | $315.40 | 2423% |
| $0.71 | Federal budget outlays for college (billions) | $39.80 | 5537% |
| $3.50 | State appropriations higher ed operating expenses (bil) | $66.60 | 1803% |
| $1.48 | Gifts to colleges and universities (billions) | $25.60 | 1630% |
| $0.18 | Net income, NCAA basketball tournament (millions) | $470.00 | 261011% |
| $0.97 | Harvard endowment (billions) | $29.20 | 2895% |
| $14,402 | Average salary, full professor | $94,738 | 558% |
| $10,829 | Average salary, associate professor | $67,187 | 520% |
| $8,941 | Average salary, assistant professor | $56,298 | 530% |
| $19,038 | Median salary, college president | $192,155 | 909% |
| $1,956 | College expenditures per student | $17,872 | 814% |
Source: Chronicle of Higher Ed. Peter was struck by the rise in income from the NCAA basketball tournament. What interests me even more is that college expenditures per student -- I'm not sure what that includes or excludes, has risen less than expenditures by colleges and universities, which has risen less than federal budget outlays to colleges. Is the federal government handing out middle class entitlements by taking on an increasing cost of college education? And are colleges and universities increasing their expenditures because of third-party payers like the federal government?
