Great ride, and I'm back to my old times: 26 km/hr for 40 minutes into work. My gears are a mess and I'll get the bike up on the repair stand this weekend for a tune-up. Took two of the boys out on the boat last night to retrieve our crab trap out of the Pacific, but as expected there was only a sunfish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zxIKnStnOg munching on the bait. I really need to spend more on a better trap because this one is easy for these things to crawl into, and surely they scare away crabs.
Today's On Point show http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/09/shaking-up-higher-ed is entitled "Shaking Up Higher Education" and is highly relevant to me. We have four boys, with the oldest in Grade 12 and ready to enter university in a year.
The discussion was on the competitiveness of American universities, which are facing overeas competition, increasing costs and are facing a growing push toward removing tenure. U.S. schools were (and are) the envy of the world, and I can say from personal experience that Asian parents work their children hard in order to get into prestigious schools. The goal seems to be "get in" as opposed "learn." This reminds me of my comment yesterday that the Republican goal seems to be "get elected" as opposed to "govern." Like any business, universities are affected by supply (schools) and demand (students) and need to provide a suitable value proposition to prospective students. Using the internet, students can research schools and will pay attention to what current students and recent graduates have to say. Regardless of the school's image and professional ranking, word-of-mouth via the internet will increasingly affect enrollment, and revenue from tuition. The message from one of the panelists was that U.S. schools are in a crisis situation, but academics and deans don't believe it.
A lot of the focus was on the increasing cost of obtaining a university education, and personally speaking this is a primary reason why we chose to move to Canada instead of the U.S. If we had moved to say, Washington state, then the kids would have been encouraged to attend "U Dub" in order to get in-state tuition. Currently, this is $8,710 per year, and out-of-state tuition is triple the in-state price tag at $25,329. It's possible that one or more of the kids might have been disappointed in the state university system and instead set their hearts on another school in another state. Assuming other states' fees are the same, a 4-year degree would set us back $100,000 plus the cost of travel etc. Private schools are somewhat pricier, and I imagine in the $40,000 range for a reasonably good school. There's a risk premium of between $15,000 and $30,000 per year, per kid, for each one that opts to go out-of-state or private.
In Canada, all public universties are around $5,000 per year for Canadians and $20,000 for non-Canadians. This means that all the schools across the country are the equivalent of "in-state" so our kids have a wide, affordable choice. We're encouraging them to attend the University of British Columbia (UBC) which is one of several local universities, but also happens to be ranked in the top 40 globally. They can live at home, get a great education, and not break mom and dad's piggy bank. Plus, they can get up to Whistler during the ski season and enjoy other hobbies like mountain climbing and biking. Many of their friends want to "get away" for university, but our kids "got away" their entire lives and are still learning what life is like in this foreign country of Canada, so luckily that's not an issue for us.
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