Drexel student debt crisis may be near unless the University acts
Harmony Piechota, Pavel Mamontov, and Jeff Rousset
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: Ed-Op
Fifteen years ago, Drexel was in crisis. Enrollment was falling, the endowment was too small to meet the university's needs, and Drexel's academic reputation was in trouble.
But in 1995, current President Constantine Papadakis took over. He's been credited with Drexel's "dramatic turnaround," and we are now respected as a high-quality school. Enrollment's up, rankings are up and we're getting more research funding and donations than ever before.
But Drexel's now headed toward another crisis, and only the Drexel community can put the university back on track.
"Issues of involvement and participation are surfacing where they had earlier been subordinated to the basic issue of survival," wrote consultant Robert C. Dickeson in a 2005 report commissioned by the Provost and Budget Priorities and Policies Committee. "Traditional notions of shared governance" are absent from the current process of determining the budget.
As Drexel students, we are proud of Papadakis' commitment to keeping Drexel's budget process relevant to the needs of the Drexel community. By commissioning the consultant's report, Papadakis has shown that the administration is dedicated to keeping Drexel competitive. Three years after the report, we need to turn those recommendations into a reality.
As it stands, the community is left out of the budget-planning process, which is creating consequences that threaten Drexel students.
For example, tuition has more than doubled over the past eight years, rising from $16,867 in 2000 to $35,100 in 2008. The average Drexel graduate in 2006 left with $25,347 of debt, according to the Public Interest Research Group, and 85 percent of students graduate with debt-that's 20 percent higher than the national average. And although enrollment has steadily risen, the funding for each school, college and department has not risen proportionately, according to Dickeson's report.
But because of the centralized budgeting process, we weren't consulted before our pockets took the hit. Essentially, all budget decisions are made by a very small group of high-level administrators. This made sense 15 years ago, when Drexel needed strong, quick leadership to get out of crisis mode. But it doesn't make sense now that we're back on track.
But in 1995, current President Constantine Papadakis took over. He's been credited with Drexel's "dramatic turnaround," and we are now respected as a high-quality school. Enrollment's up, rankings are up and we're getting more research funding and donations than ever before.
But Drexel's now headed toward another crisis, and only the Drexel community can put the university back on track.
"Issues of involvement and participation are surfacing where they had earlier been subordinated to the basic issue of survival," wrote consultant Robert C. Dickeson in a 2005 report commissioned by the Provost and Budget Priorities and Policies Committee. "Traditional notions of shared governance" are absent from the current process of determining the budget.
As Drexel students, we are proud of Papadakis' commitment to keeping Drexel's budget process relevant to the needs of the Drexel community. By commissioning the consultant's report, Papadakis has shown that the administration is dedicated to keeping Drexel competitive. Three years after the report, we need to turn those recommendations into a reality.
As it stands, the community is left out of the budget-planning process, which is creating consequences that threaten Drexel students.
For example, tuition has more than doubled over the past eight years, rising from $16,867 in 2000 to $35,100 in 2008. The average Drexel graduate in 2006 left with $25,347 of debt, according to the Public Interest Research Group, and 85 percent of students graduate with debt-that's 20 percent higher than the national average. And although enrollment has steadily risen, the funding for each school, college and department has not risen proportionately, according to Dickeson's report.
But because of the centralized budgeting process, we weren't consulted before our pockets took the hit. Essentially, all budget decisions are made by a very small group of high-level administrators. This made sense 15 years ago, when Drexel needed strong, quick leadership to get out of crisis mode. But it doesn't make sense now that we're back on track.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Losing Weight
posted 3/14/08 @ 5:42 PM EST
It sounds like it is now important to include the students in the decision making process before things get any worse.
Pavel Mamontov
posted 3/14/08 @ 11:04 PM EST
Check out our website to learn more:
www.phillysds.org!
Hope to see everyone at the dance party.
kagedmunky
Andy
posted 3/19/08 @ 8:38 PM EST
Pft! The average Drexel grad left with $25,000 of debt in 2006?! I certainly hope that's me because at this point I'm just praying that I'm not really in the $97,000 college debt that my credit report says i'm in! That must be some kind of joke or something! I'm going to need all sorts of tax breaks and debt forgiveness just to pay that off on top of all of my other living expenses after graduation!
samuelcaleb
samuelcaleb
posted 10/14/08 @ 11:29 PM EST
yes it could be worse before we should be in stable condition to handle any kind of issues...
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samuelcaleb
Credit Card Debt
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