Letter: Private colleges face financial stress
Students walking through a college campus. Credit: iStock
As a one-time academic union organizer, I have a natural sympathy for the faculty at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus [“LIU Brooklyn faculty locked out in dispute,” News, Sept. 8].
However, there’s a reality in academia today, and LIU’s faculty lockout during contract negotiations is merely a symptom. Many third-tier and some second-tier private universities are in financial difficulties to the point of impending bankruptcies. The national supply of qualified college instructors far exceeds the demand.
Most of these schools can’t actually charge their listed tuitions, much less raise revenue. Given these facts, growing contention in college labor relations seems inevitable. It would be naive to see LIU as anything other than one of possibly many similar situations around the country.
Eric Stubbs, St. James
