"Facing poverty, academics turn to sex work and sleeping in cars"

It is honestly a real crisis. These occupations are so much driven by passion that many are just fully satisfied to have a wage at all if they are doing what they love.

These sorts of topics are hard because I am not sure what to make of our ever changing economy.

Wow. Adjunct professors make a bit over half of what I did as a PhD student. A consequence of the wave of anti-intellectualism that is enveloping the U.S., I suppose.

Originally posted by @kazetnagorra
Wow. Adjunct professors make a bit over half of what I did as a PhD student. A consequence of the wave of anti-intellectualism that is enveloping the U.S., I suppose.

No mention of the greedy universities?

It's not like tuition ever goes down, it only goes up and up and up.

Where exactly is all that money going?

Originally posted by @whodey
No mention of the greedy universities?

It's not like tuition ever goes down, it only goes up and up and up.

Where exactly is all that money going?

How else do you get free education for all?

The other side of this is that many professors make 6 figures or more. You got the haves and the have nots among the faculty.

Originally posted by @whodey
No mention of the greedy universities?

It's not like tuition ever goes down, it only goes up and up and up.

Where exactly is all that money going?

You seem to be barking up the wrong tree - I don't think universities should be driven by a profit motive.

Originally posted by @eladar
How else do you get free education for all?

The other side of this is that many professors make 6 figures or more. You got the haves and the have nots among the faculty.

"Free education" can be and has been publicly funded. How it is funded is a choice.

You correctly identify in your second point that the issue is not only that universities lack funds - though they are often mega businesses. Another issue is one of inequality and unfairness.

That said, many professors and other academics are tied into business enterprises, using their university positions as a platform to attract clients and sponsors. Indeed, some universities and departments require their academics to generate significant income as a condition of employment. The integration of universities into the business world is presented as a benign and mutually beneficial partnership but in most respects it can be shown to poison academic standards and distort the objectives of the institutions. In important areas, such as research into medicine and drugs, or research related to food, business values demonstrably corrupt research. Privately funded political institutions are also influencing academic work and institutions. In effect, publicly funded institutions are sometimes made available to business "sponsors" at a fraction of their true economic value to that business, a silent and poorly understood technique of theft from the public for private greed.

The commercialisation of universities has a lot of poisonous side effects, one being their impact on local communities. Around England, many universities have more wealthy Chinese students than British ones. To meet their needs, university towns see the construction of a growing number of "student accommodation" blocks in desirable locations with rents far outside the reach of any but the most wealthy students, often on sites that are needed for decent social housing for the local community.

One of the great lies today is the idea that education is a private, personal investment in ourselves as economic units of production. Of course, on the contrary, a country's education system is a social, collective resource that plays a major part in sustaining our way of life.

The way education is funded has huge implications and any country that fails to fund education publicly and in an open, democratic manner, exposes itself to corruption and mismanagement of vital resources.

Originally posted by @eladar
How else do you get free education for all?

The other side of this is that many professors make 6 figures or more. You got the haves and the have nots among the faculty.

In their defense, they are busy trying to get their students to elect politicians to force them to redistribute it equitably.

Originally posted by @kazetnagorra
You seem to be barking up the wrong tree - I don't think universities should be driven by a profit motive.

So you are happy with the fact that many seem to be doing it cuz they just love it as they live in squalor?

Besides, prostitution will make them more money, right? And we know what a proponent of prostitution you are.

Originally posted by @finnegan
"Free education" can be and has been publicly funded. How it is funded is a choice.

You correctly identify in your second point that the issue is not only that universities lack funds - though they are often mega businesses. Another issue is one of inequality and unfairness.

That said, many professors and other academics are tied into business ...[text shortened]... an open, democratic manner, exposes itself to corruption and mismanagement of vital resources.

Just have guberment to take it all over and it'll be alright!

Adjuncts make a higher rate of pay than k12 teachers. The ones making 22k are not teaching full loads.

My solution, put university staff on the same pay scale as k12 teachers and make adjunct positions full time.

Originally posted by @eladar
Adjuncts make a higher rate of pay than k12 teachers. The ones making 22k are not teaching full loads.

My solution, put university staff on the same pay scale as k12 teachers and make adjunct positions full time.

How about the guberment just provide them with housing and food and call it a day?

What more could they want?

Being an adjunct professor is a part time job. Most adjunct professors have full time jobs in addition. If you're solely an adjunct, it means essentially that you have no full time job. Sure, some people cobble together a living by adjuncting for several different schools, But the idea that there's something wrong if an adjunct professor doesn't make a living wage from one school misses the point of what an adjunct professor is.

Originally posted by @eladar
Adjuncts make a higher rate of pay than k12 teachers. The ones making 22k are not teaching full loads.

My solution, put university staff on the same pay scale as k12 teachers and make adjunct positions full time.

If you make an adjunct position full time, then it's no longer an adjunct position.

Originally posted by @sh76
If you make an adjunct position full time, then it's no longer an adjunct position.

And if schools start hiring adjunct employees instead of full time employees, they can save a fortune on health care thanks to Obamacare.