This past Tuesday, Cooper Union, a prestigious engineering school in New York, announced the unprecedented decision to begin charging tuition. Like Brandeis and hundreds of other universities across the country, Cooper Union is scrambling to find ways to meet their annual budget. The widespread financial woes currently facing higher education are clear. How do you think they can be resolved?

Prof. Michael Coiner (ECON)

There are many disturbing trends, and they are not recent developments-they go back many decades. The cost of college has been rising faster than the rate of inflation, government aid has not kept pace, an increasing part of the burden falls on families and an increasing part of the burden falls on the student generation (rather than the parent generation), often in the form of loans. Four-year colleges are becoming unaffordable for all but the most stellar low-income students. Increased government aid for higher education (in the form of grants, not loans) would help, but politically that seems unlikely. I think in the future we will see higher education delivered at a lower cost: more online courses, greater popularity of "commuter" schools and more reliance on credentials other than a bachelor's degree. If that happens, some of the positive aspects of the college experience will be lost.

Michael Coiner is an associate professor of Economics with an expertise in the economics of higher education.

Josh Horowitz '14

The underfunding of educational institutions is a problem that affects everyone. By being forced to charge more, or at all in this case, we edge out those in our communities that cannot afford the cost. Education should not be given solely for those who can afford it. I think one way we can solve this problem is by not overfunding an already bloated defense budget and redistributing some of that money to federal education efforts. When the government doesn't help subsidize education, taxpayers are on the hook to help subsidize their local schools and when they don't, the schools suffer. Just because someone lives in a bad area doesn't mean they should be subject to a lesser education. We need to make sure that federal money finds its way to the proper places where it can do the most good instead of being used on programs that are bloated and overfunded.

Josh Horowitz '14 is a Computer Science major, a member of TRON, and an editor for the Justice.

Aaron Fried '14

In any business, when prices undesirably rise, the first and most obvious step is to cut costs. Every institution of higher education, from liberal arts colleges like Brandeis to engineering schools like Cooper Union, should constantly and ruthlessly seek out and cut waste in order to bring only the most up-to-date and efficient services to their students. More importantly, however, colleges and universities need to streamline the process by which they disseminate information. It's 2013, and the traditional brick-and-mortar educational institution of the past is outdated and obsolete. In today's digital age, the entire contents of a university library can fit on a hard drive, and professors can reach all of their students over the web, as Michael Sandel '15 has begun to demonstrate. Digital technology allows for unprecedented efficiency in making education accessible and inexpensive, and universities should act as trailblazers in this new cost-cutting opportunity.

Aaron Fried '14 is the president of Young Americans for Liberty and a columnist for the Justice.

Henry Loughlin '14

Rising costs and needs are the root causes of financial problems within the educational world. When financial hardship falls upon an entity, it usually manifests itself through multiple routes of impact and affects multiple areas. However, while this is certainly a tough time for any educational institution financially, it's important to realize that not everyone is suffering; there are plenty of other businesses who are making stratospheric profits. While admittedly a selective school, accepting less than 10 percent of applicants, Cooper Union has long been known for its pledge to provide a free education to its high-performing students. It should seek to create alliances with successful and prospering companies-perhaps engineering or architecture firms-who value the common good to create alliances to help Cooper Union sustain its promise. Certain businesses continue to prosper; why can't they lend a helping hand to educational institutions that are responsible for training and educating future employees? If there is ever a time to sustain affordable education, it is now.

Henry Loughlin is a Politics and American Studies major and an editor for the Justice.