Colleges must rein in costs

Toledo Blade: In recent years, colleges and universities in Ohio and across the country have borrowed billions of dollars to finance a spree of lavish building projects.

Gov. John Kasich’s task force on college costs must work with the state’s public universities to rein in such spending and pass the savings on to students.

The cost of American higher education has risen by more than 20 percent since 2009, according to a recent report by the Ohio conference of the American Association of University Professors. That’s more than double the rate of inflation and greater than increases in the cost of food, rent, and health care.

Students at many public universities in Ohio can expect to pay more than $20,000 a year for tuition and housing.

Sports, upscale facilities

University officials say they must spend money on sports and upscale facilities to remain competitive and keep enrollment up. That’s no excuse for squandering public dollars on programs that don’t help students learn, and saddling students with tens of thousands of dollars of debt.

Governor Kasich’s task force on college costs should examine such spending, while being careful not to target academic programs such as tutoring.