From the mid ’60s on, higher education was a huge growth industry, thanks to government subsidies. A number of observers said that the feds were creating a bubble — that higher ed was being oversold, luring in too many students who didn’t want or need a BA. For the last ten years, the bubble has been gradually deflating, and it’s now evident that expenditures on higher education are out of line with the benefits.

One state that is facing the new college reality is West Virginia. In today’s Martin Center article, Jenna Robinson writes about that state’s moves to cut needless spending.

She writes:

The cuts are part of WVU’s Academic Transformation efforts, which began in 2021. The program is intended to “align our resources to support and invest in areas of growth and opportunity and identify areas where we can have greater impact and be more effective.” Since then, several programs across the campus have been recommended for elimination by the Provost’s Office. Earlier this year, WVU raised tuition by three percent and cut expenses by roughly $10 million in an effort to fill its budget deficit. It also implemented a hiring freeze and decreased budgets for supplies, printing, employee hospitality, and most travel.

WVU has slated 32 programs for elimination, including, I’m delighted to say, graduate programs in education administration, which are breeding grounds for the zealots who have been ruining college education.

Robinson is right to say that other states should look to West Virginia for leadership in downsizing their bloated state universities.