Question

San Jose Mercury News, March 31, 2020: “As classes go online, students want Stanford to lower tuition”: “Thousands of Stanford students are asking for a discount in tuition for this quarter --- up to 80% --- as, (as one student leader stated): “the online education will affect our EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE – (the caps are mine) – interacting with faculty and peers … (is)… a more ESSENTIAL PART of our time spent at Stanford” …. Online education “makes us UNABLE TO ENJOY AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE QUALIFIED FOR THE $10,000 (tuition only) that we spent for this Spring quarter”…. “if the experience is not IMMERSIVE, then IT IS NOT FULL AND DOES NOT DESERVE THE PRICE TAG”……. QUESTIONS!

A. Should students be given a discount on tuition this quarter (or semester) owing to classes going online? (you did not SIGN UP for this, right???) Why or why not? At Stanford? At EVC? Is there a difference?

B. Is your answer any different for GRADUATE students in law and medicine? Why or why not? C. Stanford has offered to let students take a quarter off, thus delaying… THE REST OF THEIR LIVES…..in your opinion, why may this solution be… ‘less than optimal’? D. Is it relevant that Stanford is sitting on MANY TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ENDOWMENTS, --- one of the highest in the nation -- and could EASILY AFFORD to give their students a discount of 80% for one quarter?

E. WHAT SHOULD STANFORD DO? Offer an 80% discount? 100%? 50 %? 30%? No discount at all? Should it vary depending on the INCOME of the student and her family---- (just like the tuition itself, and room and board expenses)?

F. May we agree that students who were living in the dorms should be reimbursed for their HOUSING costs, given that they were KICKED OUT (evicted)? What about students who had been renting apartments from landlords in and around Palo Alto? Should they be treated differently? Why or why not? (Many landlords will suffer a huge drop in income in 2020) G. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST CHALLENGING OBSTACLE, IN TERMS OF TAKING AND COMPLETING YOUR CLASSES ONLINE, SINCE MARCH 10, 2020? IN YOUR OPINION, HOW HAS THE QUALITY OF YOUR EDUCATION CHANGED?

H. IS THIS ISSUE IN YOUR ‘TOP TEN’ LIST OF PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW, IN YOUR OPINION? Top 5? Top 3? WHY OR WHY NOT?

Answer 1

A. Yes, students should be given discounts because of classes going online as the universities electricity and other administrative expenses have reduced drastically. Additionally professors are also paid on monthly basis, so it is not like the university has already incurred that expense. Stanford fees would be comparatively higher than Evergreen college fees, depending on the income of parents and expenditure profile, both of them should offer discounts.

B. Graduate students in law and medicine should also be offered discounts as medical students often have practical sessions, now that those are not occuring the equipment costs reduces substantially, creating room for reduced expenditure on college's behalf.

C. This solution may be less than optimal, as this would delay their loan repayment as and when they graduate from university, it would also lead to increase in the gap between semesters, it could lead to students forgetting their syllabus and what they learned in previous semester.

D. Yes, it is relevant and supports this argument as huge part of funding creates extra cash and by giving discounts they are not going to loose substantial part of their income for one quarter. Whereas students don't have any other resources in this current situation.

E. Yes, it should vary depending on the student and the family as higher income earning family can afford it whereas a poor family needs it the most. In this manner, the university will be able to target families which need this discount the most.

F. Yes, this is definitely true that they should be reimbursed for the payment which they did on rent and other administrative costs. Students who rented apartments should also be given an extension on the duration as they have probably moved on to stay with their parents.

G. The most challenging obstacle has been the discrepancy and the interaction with the teacher, it is not efficient and the doubts can't be raised in quick succession, because of reduced down-time and fast completion of course. Quality of education has reduced by a small percentage as there are no clear class discussions on interesting topics, doubt raising has reduced which has led to less clarity of doubts in the class.

H. It is in the top 3 because lets be real, health is more important in this current situation. If the university doesn't give a discount and instead pledges to feed the homeless, it is also convenient as helping others is the need of the hour. If the university suffers due to non-payment of salaries at the cost of giving a discount, than it is also not okay as people need those salaries in order to survive such dire circumstances.