Buying the Professor a BMW - Perry A. Zirkel and Jean Johnson, Inside Higher Ed

In a casual conversation between an upper-middle-class parent and a senior faculty member at a four-year institution of higher education, the parent bemoaned the steep increase in the cost of sending his youngest daughter to college, compared to that of her eldest sibling. Clearly intimating that the substantial monetary difference went into the faculty member’s pocket, the parent quipped, “I hope you are enjoying the car that I bought for you.” This parent’s conclusion raises two questions -- one about rising costs and the other about faculty salaries.