Our Building are Empty, but They are New and Shiny

In reference to the recent prediction by a guest contributor that many institutions of higher education in the USA will disappear in the next twenty years, Raging Chicken Press has an analysis of the budget woes afflicting the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The author concludes that irresponsible borrowing to fund campus construction is the cause of these problems, not enrollment declines. Now many PASSHE universities find themselves over-leveraged with capital construction bond obligations that they can’t afford. In response, they have announced austerity programs that include eliminating academic programs and faculty positions. The Raging Chicken article is called “Wall Street on the Susquehanna,” but perhaps a better title would have been “A little bit of Portugal and Greece on the Susquehanna.”