Purdue President on college costs: 'affordability is our top priority’ for students

Yahoo Finance’s Julie Hyman, Myles Udland, Brian Sozzi, and Aarthi Swaminathan speak with Purdue University President Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., about how college graduates can prepare themselves for the job market amid COVID-19.

Video Transcript

- A lot of college students are preparing to close out what has been a highly unusual year of course. So too are the colleges that have been overseeing these students. We're joined now by Mitchell Daniels-- he is Purdue University President-- as well as our own Aarthi Swaminathan.

And I know you have a lot of different titles. I'll just pick one. President Daniels in this particular case, you know, I think there's been this renewed focus on the part of students on sort of return on investment when it comes to their college education, and you guys are also focused on this. You know, what are these students going to get out of college, besides all of the intangibles like the social aspect obviously. What do you think is most important? How should students be thinking about this?

MITCHELL DANIELS: The first thing, uh, Julie, is to ask why it took them so long? You know, here at Purdue, we've operated for, uh, nine years I guess under the catchphrase higher education at the highest proven value. People search for value in every other realm of life, higher ed enjoyed a fortunate privileged status for a long time.

Of course, they should be looking for an education that advantages them in life, launches them on-- on careers of productive, both work and citizenship, at a price that seems reasonable given the growth that they experience. And very belatedly, higher education is being called on and challenged really by students and their families to demonstrate that what they're buying really is worth the price, especially given that there are a lot of other alternatives now emerging

AARTHI SWAMINATHAN: President Daniels, research has shown that when a student graduates into a recession, they suffer a little bit of an earnings penalty that kind of multiplies over their lifetime. So how does Purdue think about this, especially preparing students for a situation like this with an interesting job market?

MITCHELL DANIELS: First thing we think about is making this place affordable. As you may know, Aarthi, we've not raised tuition since 2012 here. It's actually less expensive in nominal dollars to attend Purdue than it was back then. The second thing we do is try to make it possible for them to move quickly through our university, as quickly as they want to so they can be out in that job market as soon as they are-- as soon as they want to be and are ready.

Because of the flip side of what you're talking about, is that a person who gets out into the world begins earning money, let's say, one year sooner can-- that compounds over time in a very positive way. And maybe the most obvious thing is we try to teach things here that are demonstrably useful and in demand in the workforce. You know, it's not new here but it's very pronounced recently, essentially every Purdue graduate who wants to go to the workforce from here succeeds. Maybe a lot of that is because we tend to teach predominantly the STEM disciplines, which are so central to a knowledge economy.

- Yes, definitely those are in-demand positions right now. Julie again, President Daniels. You mentioned that you all haven't raised tuition. I know that you've now pledged to keep it in place through the next school year as well. How have you guys afforded to do that? Um, have you had to cut costs in certain places? How have you made up for that?

MITCHELL DANIELS: A lot of it has been expense control. Julie, I have to confess that I think there's a lot more we can do. We're working, for example, right now on better use of our space, much of which we believe will remain vacant post-pandemic because of the improvements in remote work. So the quest to concentrate our-- our spending on the teaching and on the research, which is the core of our mission, is the most important thing.

The best answer I can give you is that we solve the equation for zero around here. We decided a long time ago that affordability for our students, excellence but at the, uh, lowest price we could manage was our top priority, and we try to shape everything else to that

AARTHI SWAMINATHAN: President Daniels' not giving away the secret sauce, huh? So you've also pushed for a civics literacy graduation requirement. I'm very interested in learning more about what made you pursue that because that is a requirement for graduation. It's something not all universities have adopted. Tell us a little bit about your vision.

MITCHELL DANIELS: It's hardly my vision. Aarthi, the-- for decades now, surveys have documented and commissions and-- and leaders-- President Obama's former Justice O'Connor and others have lamented the lack of understanding, either of our historical traditions or our civic institutions. You know, that's fine in a dictatorship. Dictators don't want people to think much about or know much about their system of government, but a society by the consent of the governed requires a citizenry that understands its responsibilities and the reasons for them.

So, um, we finally decided that it would be an additional competitive edge possibly, certainly part of our responsibility to our students, that they leave here with at least a grasp of the rudiments of our free society and-- and the institutions that we're put here to create and preserve it.

It won't be burdensome. It'll be a simple test after following one of three pathways. They can take a course, they can attend some events. There's a podcast series. But then a simple test that simply will establish for them and for those they might be-- might encounter out in the world that they're ready to be a participatory and informed citizen.

- I would hope I could pass that test if I had to take it right now. I think it's a great idea. Mitchell Daniels is the Purdue University President along with our Aarthi Swaminathan. Thank you so much, sir, for your time here today.