高等教育成本控制中英文对照外文翻译文献.docx

高等教育成本控制中英文对照外文翻译文献.docx

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高等教育成本控制中英文对照外文翻译文献

中英文资料对照外文翻译

RiggingthePriceforHigherEducation

Thereisnoquestionthatthecostofacollegedegreeisincreasingrapidly.Anoft-cited1996studybytheGeneralAccountingOfficefoundthattuitionandfeesatpublicinstitutionshaveincreasedsome234percentsince1980whilefamilyincomeandthegeneralinflationratehaveincreasedonlyabout80percentoverthesameperiod.Costsatprivatecollegeanduniversitieshavefaredlittlebetter,increasingmorethan220percent.

Manyreasonshavebeengivenfortheincreasingcostsofhigheredition.Someofthemostpersuasiveincludetheincreaseddemandforcollegesdegrees,higheroverheadcostsassociatedwithincreasedfacultyresearch,rcentreductionsinstatesupportofpublicinstitutions,andfederalstudentaidprogramsthatindirectlysubsidizeschools.Theseallareimportantfactorsthatincreasecosts;however,thereisanotherreasonnot.oftenmentioned.Collegesanduniversities,particularlyeliteprivateuniversitiesexerciseacertaindegreeofmonopolypowerthatallowsthemtochargeeachindividualstudentahigherpricethanwouldbethecaseotherwise.

Thisarticleaddresseseachofthereasonsforincreasedcosts.However,theemphasisisplacedonthelastone,themonopolisticpowerofschools.

TheReasonsforIncreasingCosts

Increasedvalueofacollegedegree.Themostimportantreasoncollegecostshaveescalatedisthatthevalueofacollegeeducationhasincreased.Infact,accordingtotheGeneralAccountingOfficetheaveragecollegegraduateearnedabout43percentmorethantheaveragehighschoolgraduatedidin1980.Today,thedifferenceinearningsbetweenthesesametwogroupsismorethan70percent.Therefore,moreandmorefamiliesarefindingitnecessarytosucceedinthe,jobmarket.Atthesametime，thecollegeagepopulationingeneralhasincreased.Thisincreaseddemandforhighereducationhasdrivenupthepriceofcollegejustasincreaseddemandforanycommoditydrivesupthepriceifthatdemandisnotmetwithasufficientlyincreasedsupply.

Increasedresearchatuniversities.Anotherfactoraffectingtuitioncostsatmanycollegesanduniversitiesisanincreasedemphasisonresearch.Theprestigeofacollegeoruniversitytodayislargelyafunctionofthepublishingprowessoftheinstitution'sprofessors.Publishingrequiresresearch,whichrequirestime.Thismeansthatprofessorsaredoinglessteachingandmoreresearch.Fewerhoursatthelecternforeachprofessormeanseitherthatcourseandclassselectionarereduced,whichforcesstudentstotakelongertofinishadegree,orthatmoreprofessorsarerequiredonstaff,whichforcestheinstitutiontospendmoreforsalaries.CharlesSykesmadethispointinhisexcellent1988book,Pro/scam.Eitherway,theresultishigherfixedoroverheadcosts,whichtypicallyarepassedontostudentsandparentsthroughhighertuitionandfees.

Reducedstatefundingforpublicinstitutions.Inaddition,thecurrenteraoffiscalausterityingovernmenthasmeantslowergrowthinstatebudgets,whichoftenhasmeantslowergrowthinfinancialsupportofpublicuniversities.AccordingtoDpartmentofEducationstatistics,stategovernmentfundsaccountedfor46.3percentofpublicinstitutionrevenuesin1980.By1993thatfigurehaddroppedto36.8percent.Increasedtuitionhasbeentheonlyrecourseforpublicinstitutionssimultaneouslyfacedwithincreaseddemandandshrinkingstatesupport.

Federalprogramsthatfacilitatefamilydebt.Federalprogramsmeanttoassiststudentsfacingsteepcollegecostshavethemselvesaddedtotheriseintuition.StartingwithpassageoftheHigherEducationActof1965,thefederalgovernmenthasguaranteedstudentloansextendedbyprivatebanks.TheStudentLoanMarketingAssociation（SallieMae）wasestablishedin1972asagovernment-sponsoredenterprisetoestablishasecondarymarketinstudentloans.Inaddition,alimiteddirectgovernmentloanprogramwasestablishedin1993.Theseloanprogramsnotonlyfacilitateindebtedness,butalsoboostthescaleofthatindebtednessbyencouragingsteepertuitionincreases.AsThomasDonlanrecentlywroteinBarron’smagazine,"Thefacultyandstaffcanvotethemselveshighersalariesandmoreresourcesiftheonlyconsequenceisthatstudentsandparentsjusthavetosignonthedottedlinetoborrowsomemoremoney."Withfederaldebtassistancesoreadilyavailable,schoolshavenoincentivetocontrolthecostsofeducation.

Schoolsasmonopolists.Increaseddemand,increasedresearch,andreducedstatefundingallaffectthe"sticker"priceofacollegedegree-theadvertisedtuitionthataschoolcharges.However,federalprograms（andtoalesserextentprivatescholarshipsandinstitutionalaid）thatsubsidizestudentsdirectlyaffectnotonlythestickerpriceofcollegebutalsotheactualpricepaidbyastudentandhisfamily.Moststudentsandtheirfamiliesdonotpaythefullstickerpricejustasfewpeoplepaythefullstickerpriceforanewautomobile.Infact,thankstosubsidizedloans,institutionalscholarships,statesubsidies,andfederalgrants,schoolscanusuallygetawaywithchargingeachstudentadifferentprice.Thus,thesameeducationtypicallycostseverystudentadifferentamount.

Theabilitytochargedifferentstudentsdifferentpricesisknownineconomictermsaspricediscrimination.Onlyfirmswithmonopolisticpowerareabletoengageinpricediscrimination.Theresultofpricediscriminationisthatcollegesareabletochargeeachstudentexactlyasmuchasheorsheiswillingtopay.Whilethismayseemfairandfinancialaidisoftentoutedas"levelingtheplayingfield,"thefactisthatpricediscriminationrarelybenefitsanyconsumers,eventhosewithlowincomes.Tounderstandthisimportantfirsttounderstandthebasisofeveryeconomictransactiontakesplaceinthemarketplace.

Everyonewhotakespartinanyeconomictransactiondoessobecausehebelieveshewillbebetteroffafterthedealthanhebefore.Whyotherwiseshouldengageinthetrade?

Forexample,ifyou,thestudent,decideasemesterofclassesataparticularschoolfor$10,000thendecisionthatatpresentthatsemesterofclassesisworthmoretoyouthanholdingontothe$10,000.Ifthiswerenotthecasethenyouwouldbebetteroffholdingontothecashormakinganotherpurchase.Theextravalueyoureceivefromthattransaction-aboveandbeyondthe$10,000paid-isknownasyourconsumersurplus.

Theuniversityismakingexactlythesamecalculationontheothersideofthedeal.Ifthetransactiontranspiresthentheschoolhasobviouslydecidedthatthe$10,000incashismorevaluablethannotspendingthetimeandresourcestooffertheclasses.Theexcessvalueonthissideoftheledgerisknownineconomictermsasproducersurplus.Thisexamplehelpsillustratethatatransactionwilltranspireonlywhenboththepurchaserandthesellerreceivesomesurplusvaluefromthedealandconversely,aneconomictransactionwillalwaysoccurifthereisasurplustobegainedbyboththeconsumerandtheproducer.

Ofcourse,theactualamountofsurplusenjoyedbytheconsumerorproducerisdifficultifnotimpossibletomeasureinmostindividualmarkettransactions.However,itgenerallyistruethataconsumerwillreceiveagreatersurplusinacompetitivemarket（oneservedbymanyproducers）,thaninamonopolisticmarket（oneserverdbyasmallnumberofproducers）andaprducerwillenjoyalargersurplusinamonopolisticmarket.Thisisbecauseinacompetitivemarkettheconsumercanswitchfromoneproducertoanotherifheisunhappywiththelevelofsurplusheisreceiving.Competitionamongproducerslowerspricesandthusincreasesconsumersurplusattheexpenseofproducersurplus.Firmsthathavemonopolisticpower,however,neednotcompetewithotherproducersasmuchandareabletoretainalargersurplusforthemselves.Inshort,monopolisticproducershavetheluxuryofdeterminingexactlyhowmuchanindividualwillpayfortheirservicesandchargingpreciselythatamount.Consumershavelittlechoicebuttopaythemonopolist'sprice.

What,then,isthelessonforhighereducation?

Collegesanduniversitieshavegreatermonopolisticpowertodaythaneverbefore.Thisfactcametotheforefrontin1991whenagroupofIvyLeagueschoolswereinvestigatedbytheDepartmentofjusticeforcollusioninsettingtheirtuitionprices.Inshort,theseschoolsagreedthattheywouldnolongeroffermerit-basedscholarshipsandwouldofferfinancialaidonthebasisofneedonly.Thus,theschoolsinvolvedagreedtoendeconomiccompetitionfortalentedstudents.TheDepartmentofjusticebrokeuptheIvyLeaguecartel.However,thishasnotputanendtotheexerciseofmonopolisticpowerbyschoolsofhigherlearning.

Infact,thepowerofthemonopolyhasspreadbeyondasmallnumberofeliteinstitutionsandhasbeenwidelyadoptedbymoreordinarycollegesanduniversities.Inpart,thisexpansionisattributabletoafailuretomeettheincreaseddemandforhighereducationwithacommensurateincreaseinsupply.Itisdifficulttobuildanewcollegeoruniversity.Andsothesamenumberofschoolsisservinganincreasingnumberofstudents.Thiswilleventuallyevenoutasnewcollegesarecreatedandgainareputationinthemarketplace,butthatwilltaketime.

Moredirectlyandconcernisthatfederalstudentaidhasenabledmonopolisticbyschools.Collegesanduniversitiesareabletoincreasethestickerpricebeyondthereachofmoststudentsandthenreducetheactualpricechargedindividualstudentsbyofferingthemvariousbundlesoffinancialaid.Thus,eachstudentisofferedadifferentpricethatmatchesalmostexactly