A Shared‐Cost‐Profit Model of Teaching Materials for Higher Education.

In this article, I assess the cost‐value crisis facing institutions of higher education; as the cost of higher education grows, students grow increasingly skeptical of the value of their degrees. The COVID‐19 pandemic has accelerated this crisis as institutions across the country have been forced to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American Journal of Economics & Sociology Vol. 80; no. 1; pp. 231 - 253
Main Author: Banfield, Melanie
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Jan2021
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:In this article, I assess the cost‐value crisis facing institutions of higher education; as the cost of higher education grows, students grow increasingly skeptical of the value of their degrees. The COVID‐19 pandemic has accelerated this crisis as institutions across the country have been forced to move to a fully or partially online model of instruction. In an effort to reduce costs, institutions have increased the number of low‐paid, part‐time adjunct faculty teaching introductory courses and have promoted the use of free and open online educational resources (OER). Both solutions lack sustainability and do little to solve the "value" question of higher education. I demonstrate how a shared‐cost‐profit model could address both issues of sustainability and value.