Do Campus-Based 'Frills' Have a Future?

Subtitled "In an age of austerity, basic may make a comeback," this nice article by Jeffrey J. Selingo, managing editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, examines the growing clamor of those suggesting (or calling for) austere, "no-frills" 4-year degree opportunities:

Even as the nation's economy began to sputter early last year, two areas proved resilient to the cutback in Americans' spending: luxury goods and college degrees.

By the end of 2008, however, luxury stores had recorded the greatest decline in sales of any retail-chain category. Will high-priced colleges suffer a similar fate?

The most optimistic college presidents believe they will be spared a drastic enrollment decline next fall. But a growing number have fear in their eyes.

"I'm not convinced this is a two- to three-year disruption," says John A. Fry, president of Franklin & Marshall College, where tuition and fees are $38,630 this year. "There is a real shift here. People are going back to the basics."

Cut-Rate Campus in New Hampshire

Wow. It seems like a bargain for students in New Hampshire. They can go to the Southern New Hampshire University's main campus for tuition of $25k or they can attend at the satellite campus in Salem for only $10k a year. No Olympic-sized pool, no rotating climbing wall, no 46,800-square foot food court. SNHU plans another satellite, and the State of Pennsylvania is considering some similar plans. Some say that it looks like "reinventing community college."

So what does $10,000 - comparable to tuition and required fees at a state school - buy? A full load of prescribed introductory courses in English, math, psychology, and history, intimate classes of fewer than 10 students, and built-in office hours with professors, so students don't drop out.

The only amenities at the Salem satellite: computer labs, vending machines, and a lounge with a stack of magazines and a chess board.

"It's not the mainstream college experience, but it helps keep your sights focused on your work," said Matthew Gambardella, an 18-year-old business major who commutes 40 minutes from his parents' home in Peabody.