In discussing the problem of low college graduation rates, The Free Press of Mankato mentions a possible cause:
Because large lecture hall classes for freshmen are cheap, colleges can have a perverse incentive by having fewer upperclassmen.
It doesn’t elaborate.
Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.
Alex Friedrich