this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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[–] SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 year ago (8 children)

We are going through a demographic transition, a pinch in the hourglass. It will be temporary but painful, and the other side of the pinch might not be as big as it once was. Our population is aging.

It’s kind of crazy that our research apparatus is tied to how many students happen to be enrolling. World class universities is what makes the US economy so strong. From the tech to the biomedical industries, it’s not “the free market” that has boosted the economy, but being leaders in publicly available government funded research.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

The economics aren't really that tied. A lot of universities have research arms that are not tied to their undergraduate population. It might need a graduate student population to oppress, but undergrads are rather worthless.

[–] socsa@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Undergrads are the revenue generating portion of the university

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not really. Universities make a lot of money off research and the research helps more with prestige ratings.

[–] WetBeardHairs@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Grant money from researchers is a drop in the bucket. That money mostly goes to flesh out laboratories with fancy equipment and pay for research assistants.

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