"Craigslist allows people to place ads for free online. That siphoned away people who formerly paid for classified ads, which were major revenue streams for newspapers. When that ad revenue dried up, many newspapers tried to make up the difference through spending cuts. Spending cuts led to declining readership, which led to more cuts, until many of them either went out of business or became shells of themselves."
"Colleges have long used gen eds as profit centers, with the surplus revenue they generate helping to offset the losses in more labor-intensive courses. A psychology class may have 30 students in it and not need any specialized equipment; a welding class requires quite a bit of specialized equipment and has to be much smaller. Profits from the former can offset losses from the latter. In the metaphor, gen eds work like classified ads."
"For context: At my previous community college as well as my current one, dual-enrollment classes run in high schools are typically on the "parent pay" model and at a significantly discounted rate. (We have a grant this year for some targeted scholarships, but as of now, it's the exception.) Dual enrollment has been the fastest-growing area of enrollment for a while."
Dual-enrollment classes offered in high schools are typically parent-pay and discounted, and they represent the fastest-growing enrollment area. Colleges traditionally rely on general-education courses as profit centers to cross-subsidize more labor- and equipment-intensive programs. The availability of free or low-cost alternatives siphons paying enrollments from those profit centers, mirroring how Craigslist eroded classified-ad revenue for newspapers. Revenue declines in gen eds force colleges toward spending cuts, which can reduce program quality and enrollment, and can jeopardize the financial viability of specialized offerings that depend on cross-subsidies.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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