Every fall, millions of American parents and guardians make extraordinary sacrifices to send a child to college. They work overtime, delay retirement, go into debt, or put aside other priorities because they believe higher education can create opportunities they never had.
Students also make sacrifices. Many work nights and weekends, juggle family responsibilities or borrow for their future because they believe a college degree is worth it.
These sacrifices deserve accountability. And it’s time for colleges to offer it.
For too long, colleges and universities have responded to growing public skepticism by defending the value of higher education. We produce reports, commentaries, and numerous billboards explaining why college still matters; we remind families that graduates earn more than non-graduates over their lifetime and celebrate the role universities play in preparing the workforce.
Each of these arguments is true. They simply miss the point.
Most Americans recognize that a degree has value. What they’re increasingly asking is whether today’s universities have earned the right to charge for what they do. They feel defeated by colleges that raise tuition more readily than they cut bureaucracy. They chafe at institutions that examine family finances more rigorously than their own budgets.
Too often, university leaders assume that declining public trust can be reversed only through better messaging. This is not possible. Trust is earned through disciplined management and measurable results.
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Families are right to expect colleges to treat every tuition dollar with the same care they give their personal finances.
Students are right to expect that their degree will open the door to opportunity and that earning it will not saddle them with debt that they will carry into adulthood.
Keep College Affordable
Higher education is under siege, with many students and parents balking at high costs. In a series of opinion pieces, university leaders outline their efforts to keep college affordable.
Taxpayers are right to expect institutions to operate efficiently and demonstrate measurable value.
Universities are good at explaining why costs are unavoidable, but they are reluctant to ask whether each cost is justified. Before asking families to pay more, every college president and chancellor should first answer one question.
What have we done to deserve this investment?
Related: If Higher Education Wants to Restore Public Trust, Start by Making College Affordable
The value of affordability is a lesson I have learned throughout my leadership career in higher education, first as executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue University, then as president of the University of Vermont, and now at the University of Arizona. In the last 14 years that I have worked at these institutions, there has been no across-the-board tuition increase.
Purdue froze tuition in 2013 and it the gel stays in place Today. During my stay in Vermont, we froze full tuition and fees for all students for five years. In Arizona, we have detained residents undergraduate tuition apartment for three consecutive years while eliminating a $177 million budget deficit and restoring the university’s financial foundation.
These results did not happen because higher education suddenly became cheaper. They happened because we made intentionally different choices.
To eliminate the deficit and restore Arizona’s financial viability, we have reduced administrative tasks expenses of more than 20 percent; dissolution of ineffective, multimillion-dollar administrative units; and we challenged ourselves to operate in a leaner manner, including a comprehensive evaluation of all leadership positions that reduced the number of vice president positions to three.
At the same time, we have strengthened transfer pathways with community colleges, introduced accelerated programs three-year medicine and veterinary degree programs to address critical workforce shortages and expanded flexible online programs to reduce both the cost and time required to earn a degree from the University of Arizona.
Every wasted dollar a college spends is a dollar a family must earn, save, or borrow. These choices have a human cost. This means more debt, more financial pressure and more sacrifices for the families who trust us. Universities should spend tuition money on the same discipline that families use when deciding whether they can afford to go to college in the first place.
A university education must deliver much more than a diploma. It must prepare graduates for meaningful careers while equipping them with the judgment, resilience, adaptability and perspective needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
That’s why Arizona is leveraging philanthropic contributions and strengthening industry partnerships to expand internships and experiential learning and significantly increase study abroad opportunities for students whose financial circumstances would otherwise keep these experiences out of their reach.
Opportunities should not depend on a family’s income. This should be part of what any large public university offers.
Elite private universities dominate the national debate over higher education while educating only a tiny fraction of America’s students. These are extraordinary institutions that deserve to be recognized for their achievements. But these are not the institutions that will determine whether most Americans can afford or obtain a college degree.
Related: America’s Regional Universities Can Still Be a Bargain in a Sea of Expensive Options
This responsibility and privilege belongs to the flagship public universities. We educate millions of students from all backgrounds and create opportunities on a scale that no other sector can match. Our defining strength is not exclusivity. This is excellence on a grand scale delivered at a price that families can afford.
The American people are asking universities for something reasonable. Challenge costs before raising prices. Cut the bureaucracy before you finance it. Measure success by the opportunities we create, not just the number of students we enroll.
When public universities make these choices, states should respond by investing more in the students they educate. This investment is not a subsidy for the institutions. It’s a down payment on the workforce, economic competitiveness and civic leadership that every state needs.
Public funding should reward institutions that produce results and the lion’s share of U.S. degrees while responsibly managing taxpayer and tuition dollars.
Americans should not have to trust higher education because college presidents tell them to. They should trust us because our actions leave them with no other conclusion.
Suresh Garimella is the 23rd president of the University of Arizona and professor emeritus in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Contact the opinion editor at opinion@hechingerreport.org.
This story on the costs of attending college was produced by The Hechinger reportan independent, nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Register with Hechinger weekly newsletter.
The article OPINION: I’m a university president and I think higher education needs to control costs better appeared first in The Hechinger Report.
