Funding arts, humanities, and education

[kandrathe]

Seriously, what, can you realistically do, that is in your power? ...
I am much more interested in practical ideas and solutions. If you come up with a good answer, I will totally crib it (given your permission of course) because my neck of the woods is also facing similar problems.

Personally, I'm connected informally(committee work) to the Office of Higher Education in my state, so I can express myself more locally. I'm connected to the local private college council, so we express a common cause. Federally, I don't know really. They are tone deaf at the moment.

The only thing that has stopped them has been the district and supreme courts. They are bent upon tying funding to "best income for aid dollars", which will cut deeply into most of the liberal arts. And... They are bent on cutting off aid (grants and loans) to schools with either a low graduation rate, or high loan default rate. The latter is not so much a concern for the university where I work, but many schools that serve the poorest, and large populations of minorities are very concerned. They have a very high acceptance rate, and consequently large amounts of students who are provisionally admitted (need to complete pre-college courses, with a C or better for zero credit before probation is lifted).

If the Federal DOE continues in this direction, I can see a day within a decade when federal aid is primarily for STEM, Health Care, Law, and Business.

And, it is not an accident that Princeton University has both the highest graduation rate, and lowest amount of borrowing per student.