Thursday, March 11, 2010
Standard Article by Zack Tiggelaar
Issue: Education
As I was sitting in on the March 2, 2010 Higher Education Legislative interim meeting, I was expecting to hear what students at public institutions could look forward to as the North Dakota University System (NDUS) discussed potential changes to the higher education system. One of the discussion items was the “Enrollment Management/Service Plan” of the NDUS.
An interesting point that was discussed was the explanation of the inclusion of the words “Service Plan.” The representative of NDUS said it was to signify how the university system should be serving the state. With this type of reasoning and motivation behind an institution, one must wonder how students can possibly benefit from paying into this state benefitting program. The answer is: they are not.
To put it in the words of the “Over-Arching Goal” of the report, it’s the purpose is to:
“To provide assistance to the state in enhancing the economy of North Dakota and increasing the working-age population of the state by maximizing the utilization of the NDUS colleges and universities.”
This is the problem with the public funding of higher education institutions. Instead of providing opportunities and education programs that will benefit the students’ prosperity in the free market, it focuses on providing the state with a workforce that will benefit its planned economy. Essentially, it shifts the focus from the student success to the success of ND’s long-term plan of the state’s economy.
| Higher Education and North Dakota's Economic Future |
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This focus makes students tools of the state. They are no longer individuals who are seeking education to better their own lives. Rather the education they are paying for is established to benefit the state. It is also unfortunate for the taxpayers of North Dakota. This focus on state benefits is yet another excuse the state uses to tax and spend. Tax dollars are being used to subsidize the education of students, which in return is used to inflate the artificial job sector that North Dakota central planners, not the free market, has provided for.
My suggestion is that the NDUS removes its focus from benefitting the state, and focus on educating and creating successful students for the economy. Education is a major component of economic development. Unfortunately for North Dakota, this education is not opening up new and prosperous job sectors where the market needs them, but only filling positions central planners think need to be filled. If North Dakota wants to incentivize new jobs and industries, it must remove its focus from its planned economy and shift to a free market.
Zack Tiggelaar is an intern at the North Dakota Policy Council and an economics student at the University of North Dakota.
