A Useful Reminder II

by Andrew Gillen

I guess I needed something to make me feel better after seeing today's terrible employment numbers, and luckily, Daniel Hamermesh delivers.

The amount of fees that an Italian university can charge to students is linked to the amount of support the university receives from the national government.

Sounds sensible, right? After all, public universities in the U.S. typically try to make up lost state revenue by increasing student fees to maintain budget stability. In Italy, though, the linkage is positive: when the national government cuts back support, the universities must also cut their fees. In a time of budget cutbacks, like right now, this creates a double whammy on university finances (and the opposite in good times).

What a crazy system...

Just another reminder that things could be worse.