Underground Academics: Growth in a Declining Industry

Abstract

"Although the financial plight of universities is well-known, it is also uneven. As expenses increase and federal grants, loans, and fellowships decrease, the traditional university mold is being strained. While many of the proponents of a no-growth or steady-state, sustainable society reside in or on the edges of the university community, the unpleasant consequences of their avowed preferences are providing reality checks on their visions. The nasty realities of no-growth are witnessed in the plight of the gypsy scholar.

"University administrators' have responded to this situation in predictable ways; by cutting back programs and by squeezing the revenue generating components of the university. Thus, they foster the academic analog of the subterranean economy."