Here are some facts: 1. College educated people earn about 40% more than if they only finished high school; 2. Earnings rise about 85% faster if you have a college education; 3. Unemployment is about 7% lower for those with a college education; 4. Federal, state and local governments enjoy higher tax revenue from a college educated populace and spent about 10% less on public assistance programs; 5. College graduates are 15% more likely to have jobs that provide insurance and retirement benefits; 6. Adults with higher education volunteer for organizations and schools about 25% more frequently; and 7. College educated are healthier (less smokers and less obese).

Education is an investment that a smarter populace will ultimately make a better more prosperous society. You can’t cut your way to prosperity (see Kansas, for example).

The problem in Idaho isn’t that Universities aren’t producing what the market needs, it’s that the state doesn’t have what businesses want: educated people. It’s no coincidence that Idaho’s recovery from the recession has not been as robust as it has been in states that support higher ed.

Sidebar to BB,

1) Many positions in our society, now and in the future are and can be filled by those with an 8th grade education. For example, illegal immigration fills many of these positions.

2) Most positions in our society, now and in the future, are and can be filled by those with a high school education.

3) Very few positions need a BA or BS. Almost none need a Masters or Doctorate. Some of the most sought after workers today need skills like welding and other trades. ((BSU did teach this stuff in the past, but the snobs drove that subdivision off campus resulting in an additional tax on my house.))

Non-profits like BSU market and lobby against these simple facts of life in America. Using public funding, they produce droves of people with a BS or BA who leave school with a mountain of debt and no job… because they lack the skills needed to get a job… and many jobs don’t need or want a BA/BS.

Universities are not producing what the market needs. It’s a publicly funded miss. Thus I say, like many government bureaucracies, they are about the welfare of the staff and administration far more than the welfare of the student or community. Therefore, I’d really like to see an accurate useful evaluation tool for any and all non-profits… especially those which suck up soooo much public money… Like public universities. America is $18T in public debt. State and local debt is huge too. Personal debt is the only situation which is improving. As a nation we need to cut the fat. Non-profits are much of that fat.

I’m not saying cut valuable research programs… I’m saying cut the fat. This means schools will get much much smaller and more focused on current employment market and research demands.

You say that pay and benefits are “the main problem with phoney charities/nonprofits,” and that is “exactly why so many of them fail.” Are you saying that major universities are phoney? Also, I don’t think any major universities have ever failed. Can you recall any? It seems that perhaps you may be equating bad nonprofits with all nonprofits? Also, since we are largely talking about State schools, are you aware that the legislature (and the school’s governing body) usually have to approve all compensation packages making the kind of scams you’re talking about nearly impossible.

Regarding the website you posted (which is ironically a non-profit itself), a cursory look reveals that there are a number of major schools listed, and all are highly rated. Admittedly, there aren’t that many schools on the charity website though because universities charge tuition and receive government grants. Charity Navigator states that “we do not review charities that receive most of their funding from government grants, or from the fees they charge for their programs and services.” Nonetheless, BSU (any every other major university) publicly provide financial health status, accountability, transparency, and report annual financial results on their websites. (See: http://giving.boisestate.edu/) – this is all the criteria used by your website in its evaluations. This suggests that if these schools you’re questioning as legitimate were rated, they would be highly rated.

Zip, your attitude about higher education hardly being nonprofit, and the caviler dismissal of their missions genuinely makes me sad because I think you are advancing a popular Idaho opinion about education in general (that it isn’t that important, or that things are just fine the way they are), and that opinion is why our economy is stuck in the slow lane with its blinker on.

We need more / better tools like this to score schools.

Pay and bennies irrelevant? LOL… that’s the main problem with phoney charities/nonprofits. It’s exactly why so many of them fail.

I can see why you feel that BSU and other public universities are “masquerading as selfless organizations doing the public good,” while cutting fat paychecks to management. However, you’re misguided in your opinion that the presence of money will poison the mission. I will say I don’t personally know what the pay rates of university administrators are, but for the sake of this conversation it’s irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that public universities reinvest all proceeds to further the mission. That act makes them non-profit organizations. And as you correctly pointed out, that qualifies them for tax exempt status (as it should).

It is totally irrelevant that you think the organizations have “bullcrap mission statements.” As a society (read: majority), long ago we determined that an educated populace is good for our society. Further, as a populace, we have determined that mission-driven organizations (including many that you probably agree with), are good for our society and grant thus them a tax exemption because as a non-profit, they are not making anything (profits) to tax as any and all revenue is reinvested.

The mission of a for-profit school is to make money for shareholders. Decisions at such organizations are made to advance that purpose – it’s a business after all. A non-profit does not have shareholders. Finally, just so you’re aware, not everything associated with a non-profit is tax exempt. For example, those fat salaries of management – they are subject to income tax.

Don’t know what you think a non-profit is (or should be), but FYI, it is simply an organization that uses surplus revenue to further its goals or mission instead of paying out profits. There are for-profit schools out there (Steven Heneger, Apollo College, ITT Tech, etc), but those companies have shareholders and pay out profits and dividends.

BSU, and all those other major schools, are a lot of things, including, for one, being non profit organizations.