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Irrespective of whether the presidential candidate is a Republican or Democrat, their agenda for higher education remains the same. Each one of them has a strong and optimistic proposal to improve our colleges and schools.

This time around, though there is not much talk about any new proposals, Mitt Romney has made strong statements on supporting for-profit colleges, especially colleges that have donated liberally for the campaign.

Joe Biden, the Vice President reiterates on the explanation that high tuition in our country today is only due to the high faculty salaries. Romney made significant statements in New Hampshire expressing his support for for-profit colleges. In fact, he said that those who are worried about skyrocketing tuition must consider enrolling in for-profit institutions.

Romney was all praise for the Full Sail University in Iowa. He said that cost of education is held down by for-profit colleges. They play a major role in forcing nonprofit colleges to eliminate departments that are not really necessary and to cut costs.

A vital point to be noted here is that chief executive of the university, Bill Heavener, co-chairs Romney’s fund raising team in Florida. Full Sail is owned by a private equity company which is another major contributor to the campaign.

Though Romney strongly stresses on reaching out for for-profit colleges as a viable and inexpensive alternative to traditional colleges, the truth is far from this. Full Sail, for example, is way too expensive for common man to afford. This university offers intensive programs that allow students to complete their associate’s degree in just three years and bachelor’s degrees in five semesters.
Students enrolling in these courses have to pay a tuition fee that is more than what is charged by public institutions, though lesser than private university fees. Go through the statistics and you will be surprised to find that a large percentage of students at Full Sail fail to complete their degrees.

Apart from Romney, other traditional educators too are all praise for Full Sail though one look at the blogs and you will find many students unhappy with the quality of education offered here.

Coming to our Vice President’s statement on faculty salaries being responsible for high tuition fee, it has certainly left faculty leaders angry. Apart from faculty salaries, he pointed out that colleges today are spending way too much on items unrelated to student learning. He cited examples such as beauty of the campuses and construction of state of art stadiums.

Analyzing his view further, it is a fact that many universities are willing to pay a fortune for Nobel Laureates to teach in their institutions. Most universities and colleges however have teachers waiting endlessly for a hike in their salaries. 

Ask any higher education expert and he or she will certainly agree that labor costs that include salaries of all employees including faculty members is a major cost of college budget. During the past few years, however, on a national level, politicians, parents and students are constantly frustrated with the double digit price increases and there is no way we can point our fingers at one particular aspect such as rising faculty salaries.