DegreeForum mentioned on the TESU blog!

[davewill]

They get 8% less total than 3 years ago from 5.7% of their budget.  Have they raised students fees only 8% total in the last 3 years?

They have a 10% profit margin.

You're making less sense as you go. First you say that since they get gobs of tax money, they shouldn't be raising fees. Now we see that tax money is a miniscule part of their budget, so you blast then for not being in the red. I admit to not seeing the point of any of the info you've posted except to illustrate exactly what I said. That they have to be conscious of their budget and tax money isn't sufficient for them to keep fees artificially low.

[Life Long Learning]

They get 8% less total than 3 years ago from 5.7% of their budget.  Have they raised students fees only 8% total in the last 3 years?

They have a 10% profit margin.

You're making less sense as you go. First you say that since they get gobs of tax money, they shouldn't be raising fees. Now we see that tax money is a miniscule part of their budget, so you blast then for not being in the red. I admit to not seeing the point of any of the info you've posted except to illustrate exactly what I said. That they have to be conscious of their budget and tax money isn't sufficient for them to keep fees artificially low.

You said....."The percentage of the budget made up of tax money has been declining for decades at our public universities" but that is not true with TESU. You said...."They very much have pressure to balance the budget" but that does not seem NOT true.

-$259,000 in NJ Taxpayer support vs $5,496,992 FY2014 Profit is no pressure!

If you have the FY2017 current budget for updated facts that would be great!

[davewill]

You said.....The percentage of the budget made up of tax money has been declining for decades at our public universities is not true with TESU. They very much have pressure to balance the budget is NOT true.

-$259,000 (in three years) vs $5,496,992 FY2014 Profit is no pressure!

If you have the FY2017 current budget for updated facts that would be great!

And what would the bottom line have been if they hadn't raised fees? In the red? You keep comparing things that have no relation to each other. If your budget rises (practically a given) and your tax subsidy is flat, the percentage has gone down. It's really not difficult to see.

[Life Long Learning]

You said.....The percentage of the budget made up of tax money has been declining for decades at our public universities is not true with TESU. They very much have pressure to balance the budget is NOT true.

-$259,000 (in three years) vs $5,496,992 FY2014 Profit is no pressure!

If you have the FY2017 current budget for updated facts that would be great!

And what would the bottom line have been if they hadn't raised fees? In the red? You keep comparing things that have no relation to each other. If your budget rises (practically a given) and your tax subsidy is flat, the percentage has gone down. It's really not difficult to see.

I just look at math and the TESU budget statements.

The College ended the fiscal year with a 14% profit margin exceeding the stated goal of 7.5% profit margin. Student revenue was 6% higher than the prior year. 
----------FY2014 TESU

Facts are TESU is not poor.  IF TESU was given ZERO NJ tax money they would still earn $3 Million profit above that.  The percentage of the budget made up of tax money (5%) is irrelevant with a 10-14% profit margin.

The Big 3 three fee model does make a profit.   Excelsior College with about the same exact fees is an independent non-profit as they do not need NY tax money.  I would love to read all three of the Big 3's 2017 budget summary side by side.  

If you have math proof I would love to read the link?

[davewill]

I just look at math and the TESU budget statements.

The College ended the fiscal year with a 14% profit margin exceeding the stated goal of 7.5% profit margin. Student revenue was 6% higher than the prior year. 
----------FY2014 TESU

Facts are TESU is not poor.  IF TESU was given ZERO NJ tax money they would still earn $3 Million profit above that.  The percentage of the budget made up of tax money (5%) is irrelevant with a 10-14% profit margin.

The Big 3 three fee model does make a profit.   Excelsior College with about the same exact fees is an independent non-profit as they do not need NY tax money.  I would love to read all three of the Big 3's 2017 budget summary side by side.  

If you have math proof I would love to read the link?

You finally moved your goalposts all the way around to what I said in the beginning. Fees are directly related to their budget and tax dollars are pretty much irrelevant. Quite a long ways from your post lamenting the massive amount of tax dollars NJ was spending. Whether they have raised fees too much is quite a separate argument.

[Life Long Learning]

I just look at math and the TESU budget statements.

The College ended the fiscal year with a 14% profit margin exceeding the stated goal of 7.5% profit margin. Student revenue was 6% higher than the prior year. 
----------FY2014 TESU

Facts are TESU is not poor.  IF TESU was given ZERO NJ tax money they would still earn $3 Million profit above that.  The percentage of the budget made up of tax money (5%) is irrelevant with a 10-14% profit margin.

The Big 3 three fee model does make a profit.   Excelsior College with about the same exact fees is an independent non-profit as they do not need NY tax money.  I would love to read all three of the Big 3's 2017 budget summary side by side.  

If you have math proof I would love to read the link?

You finally moved your goalposts all the way around to what I said in the beginning. Fees are directly related to their budget and tax dollars are pretty much irrelevant. Quite a long ways from your post lamenting the massive amount of tax dollars NJ was spending. Whether they have raised fees too much is quite a separate argument.

You have no math proof.

[Life Long Learning]

I just look at math and the TESU budget statements.

The College ended the fiscal year with a 14% profit margin exceeding the stated goal of 7.5% profit margin. Student revenue was 6% higher than the prior year. 
----------FY2014 TESU

Facts are TESU is not poor.  IF TESU was given ZERO NJ tax money they would still earn $3 Million profit above that.  The percentage of the budget made up of tax money (5%) is irrelevant with a 10-14% profit margin.

The Big 3 three fee model does make a profit.   Excelsior College with about the same exact fees is an independent non-profit as they do not need NY tax money.  I would love to read all three of the Big 3's 2017 budget summary side by side.  

If you have math proof I would love to read the link?

You finally moved your goalposts all the way around to what I said in the beginning. Fees are directly related to their budget and tax dollars are pretty much irrelevant. Quite a long ways from your post lamenting the massive amount of tax dollars NJ was spending. Whether they have raised fees too much is quite a separate argument.

You have no math proof.

My business degree in the 1980's was all about quantitative business analysis of financial statements and budgets.  Maybe it’s not that big of a thing today.  I am no cheerleader for TESU.  Math over rhetoric any day!  Maybe is just my generation focus showing?

[MSinger Tesc]

Hi all--this is Marc. I really appreciate the level of discussion in this thread, and generally around the site. I would like to make two points:

1. I am not a spy, and we are not looking to close loopholes. I post only when I see that there is some confusion about a policy--if I can clear that up, I do. Sometimes it is our error, and sometimes there are rumors that need clearing up. In this case, it is the question of whether or not I am a spy. In fact, I am an advocate for the kinds of policies that you all generally advocate: expanding access, removing obstacles and arbitrary requirements, lowering costs, making the policies clearer. If I ever tell people at TESU about what I read on DegreeForum, it is to support a point I am making about fulfilling our mission.

My title is Vice Provost for the Center for the Assessment of Learning at TESU. We oversee all the prior learning assessment programs here, including TECEP, portfolio, academic program reviews, open educational resources (like courses from Saylor and a few others), and competency-based education. My office also works closely with ACE and NCCRS, not to mention collaborating with Charter Oak, Empire State, and others like us. We have created the Open Course ASBA (https://www.tesu.edu/business/asba/Open-...Option.cfm) and the new Certificate in First-Year Foundations (https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/undergrad-ce...ations.cfm), all using free and openly licensed course content. We want people to be more aware of these programs, and to use them.

2. Regarding the economics of higher education: that's too much to get into here. And yes, not everyone understands how it works--we never had to until in recent years. But a non-profit, by definition and by law, generates no profit. Any surplus (as we had in 2014, as someone noted--but not now) gets plowed into research, or new technology, or development of new programs. Some of it pays for PLA. No one here gets that money. Yes, we do get less from the state than other NJ schools do. Some of that is because we have less of a physical plant to manage, and some of it is because they don't all understand the value of what we do (even though some of them have degrees from here). All of our numbers are public, since we are a state school.

If you ever have questions about policies relating to any of our programs, you can check here: http://www.tesu.edu/cal. Or you can email us. I have corresponded with several of you over the years, including sanantone.

Good luck as you get this done.

Best,
Marc