美国国家公共电台 NPR--Purdue's reputation for affordability results in substantial growth for the school

Purdue's reputation for affordability¹ results in substantial growth for the school

Transcript²

While many universities have raised tuition in the last decade, Purdue University has frozen those costs. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to outgoing Purdue President Mitch Daniels about the strategy.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

President Biden's student loan forgiveness triggered debate about an underlying³ problem. People borrow so much to attend college in part because colleges raised prices over the past half-century. We hear this morning from a university that advertises its effort to hold the cost down. For a decade, Purdue University in Indiana has held in-state tuition just below $10,000 - 9,992, to be exact. The tuition freeze was championed by university president Mitch Daniels. He's a former Republican governor of Indiana who says that before his arrival, Purdue had raised its price for 36 consecutive⁴ years.

MITCH DANIELS: And so I simply raised the question, could we try a one-year timeout? That's all I imagined at the beginning. Obviously, 10 years later, we've been able to continue that. But I would never have dreamed that in 2013.

INSKEEP: Was there something special about the $10,000 mark that you didn't want to go even a dollar over?

DANIELS: I confess that there was. At one point, a preexisting $10 fee - a prearranged $10 fee for our rec center was added and temporarily put us over $10,000. I know this was a little silly, but I did get the board of trustees to eliminate it. And we went back where we started.

INSKEEP: When you see a product on a store shelf, he says, 9.99 looks more appealing than 10 bucks⁵. And 9,992 sounded better than 10,000. Out of state and international students pay a lot more. Although, those prices are also steady. Daniels insists he took no one big step to balance the books. He asked alumni for more contributions and made an annual effort to manage expenses.

DANIELS: And then the other essential thing to say is that a virtuous⁶ cycle, as people call it, the setting in which a reputation for affordability has led to very substantial growth. We're 30% bigger than we were when this started. And the revenues that have come from that without a price increase are the biggest single factor in allowing us to avoid one.

INSKEEP: Have you had to increase class sizes then?

DANIELS: No. We've grown the faculty⁷. We haven't - by the way, before you ask, we have not shifted to lower cost faculty. We've paid our faculty and staff above the peer group average every single year. It's value we're pursuing.

INSKEEP: And he asserts that Purdue has kept a college education in reach for more people.

DANIELS: If we had grown our tuition and fees at the Big 10 average or the national average, our students' families would have sent us over $1 billion cumulatively⁸ more than they did the last 10 years.

INSKEEP: Well, let's think about that for a moment. Somebody in your position might say, we left $1 billion on the table.

DANIELS: I'm happy to say we left $1 billion on the table, let's say at the kitchen table of the families who entrusted⁹ their young people to this institution. Incidentally, Steve - and these phenomena¹⁰ are related - more than 99% of our graduates pay back their student loan. It reflects the fact that they had to borrow less money, but also the fact that they left with a sense of personal responsibility that says you ought to live up to your obligations.

INSKEEP: Do you have sympathy for students at other universities who, perhaps, paid higher tuition, borrowed more and are in a different situation?

DANIELS: I have sympathy. That doesn't mean that I think it was appropriate ethically¹¹, constitutionally or as a matter of sound public policy to cancel debts that they freely took on. It could have been other answers to that.

INSKEEP: Oh, other answers. What do you mean?

DANIELS: Well, what would have worked better all along is a system in which universities like ours were at least at partial risk for defaults of their graduates. I've always thought of this as a breach¹² of warranty¹³ situation in which the diploma that we confer ought to connote a productivity that will allow the person to pay back anything they freely borrowed.

INSKEEP: I've heard people remark in recent days after Biden's announcement that they wished universities were on the hook instead of taxpayers¹⁴. It sounds like you're saying, as a university president, if anybody had come to you with that proposal, you would have welcomed it.

DANIELS: I've actually advocated it for a very long time. I think we should stand, at least partially¹⁵, behind the service that we're providing. In fact, we have. We inaugurated at Purdue income share agreements in which the student is not at risk. If life doesn't work out and they can't pay back or can't pay the stated percentage of income that was anticipated, the risk remains¹⁶ on the school or those who help the school provide those funds.

INSKEEP: I want to make sure that people understand. You're saying the loan payback is not a fixed¹⁷ amount on a fixed schedule. It is judged on the person's income what they would pay back.

DANIELS: That's because it's not a loan. Think of it as an equity¹⁸ investment as opposed to debt.

INSKEEP: Income share agreements like the ones Daniels describes have triggered criticism. The federal Department of Education says, in fact, they do count as loans. Here's how they work. Private investors¹⁹ finance students' educations in exchange for a percentage of their future incomes. Some Purdue students told the Indianapolis Star they did not understand the agreements they signed and didn't realize how much more they had to pay the investors later. Purdue itself has paused the program, saying it's changing vendors²⁰. But it supports legislation to establish national standards for the practice.

DANIELS: And by the way, I think it would have led to much more moderation in tuition. Schools knowing that they were at risk for at least something would have been more careful about what they charged and probably a little more attentive²¹ to making sure they were teaching things that would enable a graduate to be successful and pay back the money they'd received.

INSKEEP: What do you say to other universities that have taken another path and have sharply increased tuition in recent years?

DANIELS: We have never in 10 years made any comment or criticism of any other school. I just think you can say fairly that as a sector²² that has raised prices at the fastest rate of any category in the economy, including health care, collectively, our performance has not been admirable.

INSKEEP: Well, Mitch Daniels, it's a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much.

DANIELS: Any time, Steve. Thank you.

INSKEEP: He's a former Indiana governor and the president of Purdue University, retiring at the end of this year.

(SOUNDBITE OF NEW CENTURY CLASSICS' "POST-CARDS")

1 affordability   

可购性

参考例句：

• Performance-Based Logistics Affordability: Can We Afford Categorical Conversion to Performance-Based Acquisition? 基于性能的后期的可承受性：能否担负得起向基于性能的采办的无条件的转变？
• There would be no crisis of affordability, as't for food or clothing. 就想食物与服装一样，因为供给没有危机。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

4 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

5 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

7 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

8 cumulatively   

adv.累积地，渐增地

参考例句：

• Mind has become self-reproducing through man's capacity to transmit experience and its products cumulatively. 通过传递生活经验和积累创造的产品，人类的智慧在不断地进行着自我丰富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At first, the drug does no harm, but cumulatively its effects are bad. 这药开始对人没有害处，但连续服用后果就坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

11 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。

12 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

13 warranty   

n.担保书，证书，保单

参考例句：

• This warranty is good for one year after the date of the purchase of the product.本保证书自购置此产品之日起有效期为一年。
• As your guarantor,we have signed a warranty to the bank.作为你们的担保人，我们已经向银行开出了担保书。

14 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

15 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

18 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

19 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

20 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

21 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

22 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。