Wayne State University to offer free tuition to Detroit high school graduates

[Ray1936]

I suspect there will be more academic counselors hired to meet the potential increase in students.

Uh.....and where is the money going to come from to hire these additional academic counselors? Oh, I know, the taxpayers, of course.

[JonWylie]

Uh.....and where is the money going to come from to hire these additional academic counselors? Oh, I know, the taxpayers, of course.

Yeah, fuck my tax dollars going towards education. I'd rather buy 1/100,000 of a fighter jet

[Zacha341]

We might need both!

Yeah, fuck my tax dollars going towards education. I'd rather buy 1/100,000 of a fighter jet

Uh.....and where is the money going to come from to hire these additional academic counselors? Oh, I know, the taxpayers, of course.

[drjeff]

Uh.....and where is the money going to come from to hire these additional academic counselors? Oh, I know, the taxpayers, of course.

The amount of money WSU gets from the state at this point is somewhere between jack and shit. Funding levels are $12 million lower now than they were in 2011. The republican state legislature is not going to give more money to WSU for this.

[JBMcB]

The amount of money WSU gets from the state at this point is somewhere between jack and shit. Funding levels are $12 million lower now than they were in 2011. The republican state legislature is not going to give more money to WSU for this.

According to their own budget, WSU gets about $200 million from the state, accounting for 20% of the operating budget. I guess you could call that "jack shit." I don't know what a more appropriate amount would be.

In the meantime, tuition has increased roughly 4x faster than inflation over the last 20 years. Where is all that extra money going?

[mwilbert]

According to their own budget, WSU gets about $200 million from the state, accounting for 20% of the operating budget. I guess you could call that "jack shit." I don't know what a more appropriate amount would be.

In the meantime, tuition has increased roughly 4x faster than inflation over the last 20 years. Where is all that extra money going?

It goes a bunch of places. State funding in current [[not inflation-adjusted) dollars is a bit lower than it was twenty years ago, so all the increased costs have to be paid for from someplace else. Wayne has also increased it's own financial aid substantially.

As far as what a more appropriate amount would be, hard to say, but in 2001 Michigan ranked 20th in per-person spending on higher ed. Last year it ranked 44th. So I guess the answer is "maybe something more similar to what we did in the past?"

[JBMcB]

It goes a bunch of places. State funding in current [[not inflation-adjusted) dollars is a bit lower than it was twenty years ago, so all the increased costs have to be paid for from someplace else.

What are the increased costs? Do you mean that, because they are getting less money from the state, they need to cover that loss? Right now they get roughly $400 million in tuition. If it were only increased at the rate of inflation, they would have collected around $100 million. That's a $300 million increase over inflation, or 50% more than they get from the state. They are collecting *WAY* more money than they lost from state funding.

Wayne has also increased it's own financial aid substantially.

With quadrupled tuition rates I can see why. If tuition was 25% of what it is today, would they still need so much financial aid?

[Meddle]

Where is all that extra money going?

Six figure or greater salaries, compensation and perks for the brass, buildings that aren't needed, sports complexes, political lobbying [[palm greasing) and all sorts of non-student related 'expenses'.

Somebody stated something about students not being ready for classes. High Schools are no longer teaching life skills. They now only prep for college. Many, too many people are forced into college and the associated debt knowing that many, too many employers won't even accept applications from those that don't.