i Of Serfs and Lords iii Of Serfs and Lords Why College Tuition is Creating a Debtor Class Richard Kelsey iv Published by Rowman & Littlefield An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB Copyright © 2018 by Richard Kelsey All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kelsey, Richard, 1966- author Title: Of serfs and lords : why college tuition is creating a debtor class / Richard Kelsey Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references Identifiers: LCCN 2018021775 (print) | LCCN 2018032312 (ebook) | ISBN 9781475837919 (electronic) | ISBN 9781475837896 | ISBN 9781475837896 (cloth : alk paper) | ISBN 9781475837902 (paperback : alk paper) Subjects: LCSH: Education, Higher—Economic aspects—United States | Education, Higher—Aims and objectives—United States | College costs—United States Classification: LCC LC67.62 (ebook) | LCC LC67.62 K45 2018 (print) | DDC 378.3/8—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021775 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 Printed in the United States of America v For, from, and because of the love of my wife and best friend … the incomparable Jill Braun vii Contents College Inflation Chart Acknowledgments Preface Introduction: How to Use This Book PART I: WHY DOES COLLEGE COST SO DAMN MUCH? The Cost of “Structural Liberalism” in Higher Education Structural Capitalism versus Structural Liberalism What Is Government’s Role in Safeguarding against Questionable Loans? Get the Picture Does Structural Liberalism in Higher Education Serve Faculty or Students First? The Educational Consumer Do You Want a K-Car or a Porsche? What Is the Tenure Tax? What Are the Reasons for Tenure? Lifetime Tenure Is Funded by Your Tuition What Makes Tenure a Tax? Examples of the Tenure Tax Other Reasons Tenure Is a Bad Bargain for the Educational Consumer The Tenure Tax and Lost Opportunity Costs viii Who Is Running This Place? Friends Don’t Let Friends Hire Friends Hiring People You Know The Politics of the Tenure Class “Cultural Liberalism” as Part of “Structural Liberalism” The Rise of the Administrative Machine Whose Fault Is Administrative Bloat? Cronyism and the Entitlement of the Lords Is Private Money Donated to Public Institutions Always Good? Are There Hidden Costs to “Gifts”? Where Is the Line on Private Giving and Public Disclosure? The Scalia Name Change Donation at Mason Law Revenue Predators: Have Colleges Become Revenue Predators? If so, Who Is the Prey? The Not-for-Profit Ruse 10 Is That Degree Worth the Debt? 11 What Is a Dubious Degree? The Marriage of Structural and Cultural Liberalism PART II: COMBATING THE HIGHER EDUCATION MONOPOLY: IS REFORM ENOUGH? 12 Reform or Revolution? The Colonists Tried Reform Sometimes, Greatness Requires Revolution 13 Why Are Deregulation and Reregulation Essential in Higher Education? Regulation: The Hidden Tax on Education Cultural Liberalism vs Structural Liberalism A Blueprint for Better Regulation in Higher Education 14 Do We Really Need Student Loan Reform? 15 Can We Really Reform Tenure? The Case for Tenure? The Market Is the Best Protection of Value A New Tenure and Contracting System 16 How Does a Student Find Value Right Now? An Expert and Fact Witness ixThe Value Option: Community College State Universities The Value Checklist Epilogue Glossary Notes About the Author xi College Inflation Chart Mark J Perry, American Enterprise Institute (tweeted on August 16, 2016) https://twitter.com/Mark_J_Perry/status/765559583066710016 xii ... detachment that leads to the appearance of objectivity It is true, this book is not a personal memoir This book also is not and cannot be a traditional academic analysis of academia Others have... Politics of the Tenure Class “Cultural Liberalism” as Part of “Structural Liberalism” The Rise of the Administrative Machine Whose Fault Is Administrative Bloat? Cronyism and the Entitlement of the Lords. .. in public relations and marketing, appearing nationally and regionally as a legal expert and political commentator I have appeared as a legal expert across a wide spectrum of media, from NPR to