by JUSTIN HERBERGER
Intern News Reporter

Higher education is more than a commodity. Now, it seems only natural for high school graduates to take the next step into a university, or at least a two-year community or technical college.

The Associated Press reports almost 40 percent of high school graduates in the United States go on to attend college, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center.

The business of educating America’s masses is a lucrative one, and colleges know their services are at or are very near the top of the average family’s financial goals.

Colleges around the country spend millions not only hiring the best faculty they can find, but retaining them.

UNC-Chapel Hill, for example, appropriates money on an annual basis to keep its professors and administrators from jumping ship to other institutions offering higher pay rates and more prestigious titles and positions.

In addition to colleges dishing out money to hold onto faculty, some administrators within the UNC system bring in the big bucks on their own.

In a News & Observer article published Oct. 25, reporter Dan Kane uncovers activity bordering on corruption at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics in Durham.

Chancellor Gerald Boarman heads up the administration of North Carolina’s public boarding high school for gifted 11th and 12th graders. His salary swelled by 40 percent over the past five years.

The News & Observer reports he earns $245,000 per year, as well as receiving an apartment and car from the school.

I don’t know about you, but for a high school administrator, that seems like a pretty competitive pay rate.

Although the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics is technically part of the UNC system, it is eye opening to see Boarman’s salaries next to, say, my high school principal’s yearly earnings.

According to news station WRAL, Principal Douglas Thilman from Cary High School, part of the Wake County Public School System, makes a paltry $92,381 per-year salary compared to the six figures Boarman is raking in. 

The average principal in Durham County makes about $50,000 to $60,000 per year, WRAL reports.

The disparity between these figures is ridiculous.

Whether schools are spending money stealing hotshot faculty from other schools or administrators are earning huge paychecks, ultimately, students and state taxpayers pick up the tab for this game played in education.

The fact of the matter is that education is an industry, like any other. But in a public school system, the student’s interests should always be at the forefront of the school’s focus.

As Appalachian State University engages in its search for a new provost to replace Stan R. Aeschleman, the administration and its outside search firm should tread carefully when making offers to prospective candidates for the position.

It is contradictory to the university’s mission to lure administrators away from other institutions. Appalachian should not join Cornell University, Michigan University and others around the country in a desperate grab for the top names in education.

Instead, Appalachian should focus on fostering an environment in which leaders can rise out of our own university community.

Herberger, as sophomore communications major from Cary, is a news reporter.

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