EconAir

    Full disclosure.    I’m a retired professor of Economics.  I was a full-time professor but also taught as an adjunct at other colleges. I taught both traditional age day students and adult night students. I designed and taught online courses. I was on my college’s budget committee for many years and twice served on the accreditation review committee.   Before becoming a professor, I was an economist and strategic planning manager at three large corporations, a consultant to small businesses, and ran a small company. I’ve been on the boards of five nonprofit organizations.   What Does Your Tuition Buy?   There is a private college near me that charges full-time students tuition an average of $40,000 a year (after discounts off of list price). About $4,000 a course.  The professor is paid about $8,000 to teach a course (half that if the professor is an adjunct).  Assuming 20 students in the course, each student is paying...

Eric Kandel Receiving Nobel Prize There is a private liberal arts college near me.   They allow outsiders to audit summer courses (applying the profound wisdom that if there are empty seats, the marginal cost of one more student is zero.   Any revenue is pure gain.)   I was interested in a course Introduction to Neuroscience .   I checked out the course.   That got me thinking about the economics of a college course. This college charges students about $4,000 a course.   The course is probably taught by a full-time professor, probably an Assistant Professor since it fulfills a liberal arts field requirement.   There are no pre-requisites.   The prof probably is paid about $8,000 to teach this course.   Assuming 20 students in the course, each student is paying $400 to listen to the prof.   About 10% of the total cost.   What does the other 90% buy you? The main reading is In Search of Memory by Eric Kandel, wh...