More universities charging more tuition for harder majors

[FarCenter]

Having a hard major is getting more expensive.

A growing number of public universities are charging higher tuition for math, science and business programs, which they argue cost more to teach — and can earn grads higher-paying jobs.

More than 140 public universities now use "differential tuition" plans, up 19% since 2006, according to research from Cornell's Higher Education Research Institute. That number is increasing as states cut higher-education spending and schools try to pay for expensive technical programs.

"It's been a lifesaver," said Donde Plowman, College of Business Administration dean at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which charges business and engineering majors $50 more a credit. "We can be excited for the future."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-04-24/differential-tuition-increase-major/54513940/1

Value pricing comes to colleges.

[Iris]

1. Business is a "harder" major?

Harder than what?

I get engineering, but business?

[surrealAmerican]

3. This was my first thought too.

When I went to college, this was by far the easiest major.

[crazylikafox]

4. Same here. Business Major was for Frat boys & football players.

[exboyfil]

18. Business major such as accounting, finance, or economics

Those majors are more difficult than the average major at our local university. Not as hard as engineering or hard sciences, but definitely no cakewalk either.

Disclosure: I have a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering with a M.B.A.

[Iris]

20. Ok. But if you haven't majored in the other majors, you can't assume they are cakewalks

In fact, I majored in a program that was considered "easy" to get into but difficult to get out of.

[exboyfil]

22. I have no comment on the other majors

The point was that business was easy, and I responded by citing three examples of business majors which are far from easy. I could think of many majors which would simply blow me away (Theoretical Physics, Foreign Languages, and anything requiring an artistic bent). Engineering is hard - I know that. I also know that I took Junior level Communications classes as a Freshman at Purdue and got the highest scores in the classes (beat out by another engineer in one of the classes). These were classes that were in the core major area for Communcations majors, and the class was packed with them. The same could said for most engineers when they move outside of their major classes. Engineers in general are just more prepared for college than the average student - they come in with higher ACT scores etc. Many science majors are even better prepared. In general the lowest rung students are higher than the lowest rung of majors in Education or Liberal Arts. At the top level they are probably equivalent (I would put my niece who is majoring in English up against anyone in terms of preparedness). Actually great concern has been expressed about the quality of Education students at our local university, and the answer is duh - the students are reacting to the market. Teaching is a hard low compensated field, and I do my best to support our local teachers (even though at times the school system does try my patience).

I haven't a clue about your major - I suspect I would get blown away in it.

[Iris]

23. Yes. Good points.

Especially the part about the education program not attracting the best students anymore. I have often wondered what types of students would be interested in education now. I also think your point about engineering students being better prepared makes a lot of sense, too.

I wonder if knowing you have a chance at succeeding at something society deems valuable helps motivate such students? I am actually a college instructor at a very lower-tier college and most students simply don't care about the kind of grades they get. They put in minimum effort. Maybe they are too young to understand the bigger picture.

[Posteritatis]

11. Those white elephant business schools don't get built for free, darnit. (nt)

[Odin2005]

12. It's a social class signifier.

More expensive = for rich people.

[aikoaiko]

13. Its not so much harder majors as more expensive majors are charging differential tuition

Last edited Thu Apr 26, 2012, 09:46 AM - Edit history (1)

At that's what I've seen.

Business, Health Professions, and STEM professors typically cost more.

[Iris]

14. Yes. I was thinking the cost to hire professors might be more of a factor.

If someone can make more money elsewhere, then there needs to be some incentive.

[dark forest]

15. When I was in school

We used to call engineering "pre-business".

[Iris]

16. That's pretty good!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

2. Charge more for the majors that will make more...

...then the 1%ers have fewer people to compete with.

[2ndAmForComputers]

5. Countries with good quality public education are going to eat us whole.

Damn.

This nation is committing Randian Suicide. Irrational hate of public anything will be our end.

[Iris]

6. You said it.

I'm dismayed at the posts here at DU blaming students for student loan debt, choosing the "wrong" major, etc. etc. when in reality, there's a force in this country to dismantle public education from K-16.

[riderinthestorm]

8. +1000000 nt

[riderinthestorm]

7. +1000000 nt

[fascisthunter]

9. I guess the Market is Harming the US then?

So why do so many state the opposite... hmmmmm.

[3waygeek]

10. I'd have been really screwed if they did this in the 80s...

my majors were physics, math, and computer engineering. I spent 6 years as an undergrad, averaging 17 hours per semester. I was very busy in those days.

[exboyfil]

17. $2,357 difference in senior year for engineering

majors versus liberal arts majors at the University of Iowa. That is 30% more than the liberal arts tuition.

I remember the original reasons given for the differential:

1. Cost of instruction is higher - True but if you look at the amount of dollars brought in by the engineering department it might not be that different (I really have not studied it).

2. Engineers have better opportunities for internships to pay for their college education.

3. Engineers have better employment prospects and will be better able to pay back loans after graduation.

From Iowa State website (could not find anything about Iowa):

"Finally, there’s a clear economic incentive. Graduates of the engineering college earn substantially more than graduates of other academic programs at Iowa State. Starting salaries for Iowa State engineers average $56,321—$2,000 to $5,000 above the national average for all engineering graduates, and several thousand more than other Iowa State graduates. This represents a lifetime earning potential of almost $1.1 million more than non-engineers. The differences between engineers’ and other graduates’ starting salaries, projected lifetime earnings, and internship/co-op earnings far exceed any difference in additional cost due to the differential tuition."


Which begs the question of why these points are used for differential tuition? They could equally apply to several of the "hot" majors in the Liberal Arts college as well. Not to mention our state is pushing for more STEM students while putting out a disincentive such as diffferential tuition.

Also, can you really tell me an engineering major costs more than a physics major? I don't buy it.

[FarCenter]

19. STEM majors will also generate more business, and pay higher taxes

So logically, the state should subsidize their education to encourage more STEM majors.

[haele]

21. I've been pricing state/public universities to finish up my BS while I'm working -

Every single one of them has added fees to take the required courses in the Medical, Engineering and Business majors - from $50 per class to $250 per class.
I actually found a well-rated private school with evening classes for the "working professional" that would have cost less than a State or public university to get my degree - and that was before the scholarships and the partnership discount and tuition assistance that my employer provides kicked in.
It would have cost me around $45K for the last two years (48+ credit units) of a Bachelor of Science in either Computer Science or IT Business Management; more if I went into Engineering to go to SDSU. It will cost me $32K at University of Redlands San Diego campus for Monday night classes over the next two and a half years for a BS in Business Management - that could transfer to an MS in Systems Engineering or Program Management at either UCSD or SDSU - or the Naval Post Graduate School Distance Learning - if I ended up in a position I could continue my degree program through my employer.

The thinking that in this economy, a student is likely to start out in the middle of the professional ladder to be able to pay off these "professional" degrees is short-sighted and greedy.
It's not about providing education any more, it's about how teaching is so poorly thought of that if you want good educators that know their subject, you need to figure out a way make up the shortfall between what these people can make "on the outside" as opposed to what they make teaching. It's about saving professors from the need to "publish or perish". And, IMO, it's about living with shareholders, and how the Board of Trustees haven't figured out that if the university is in trouble, you don't go on thinking you can live large and give yourselves hefty paychecks and perks on the backs of the students.

Haele