Why Is Math Cheaper than English? Understanding Cost Differences in Higher Education

This paper establishes five new facts about instructional costs in higher education using department-level data from a broad range of institutions. Costs vary widely across fields, ranging from electrical engineering (90% higher than English) to math (25% lower). This pattern is largely explained by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of labor economics Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 397 - 435
Main Authors Hemelt, Steven W, Stange, Kevin M, Furquim, Fernando, Simon, Andrew, Sawyer, John E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.04.2021
Subjects
Class Size
Costs
Departments
English Instruction
Expenditures
Faculty Workload
Fringe Benefits
Higher Education
Institutional Characteristics
Intellectual Disciplines
Mathematics Education
Online Courses
STEM Education
Teacher Salaries
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Summary:This paper establishes five new facts about instructional costs in higher education using department-level data from a broad range of institutions. Costs vary widely across fields, ranging from electrical engineering (90% higher than English) to math (25% lower). This pattern is largely explained by differences in class size and faculty pay. Some STEM fields experienced steep declines in expenditures over the past 17 years, while others saw increases. Changes in class size and teaching loads alongside a shift toward contingent faculty explain these trends. Finally, the association between online instruction and instructional costs is statistically indistinguishable from zero.
ISSN:0734-306X
DOI:10.1086/709535