WHY DETENTE BEST DESCRIBES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT AND THE ADMINISTRATORS. Cal State Northridge's Shirley Svorney (via Minding the Campus) mentions the emperor's nakedness.

[L]ow fees attract some students to higher education who simply aren't suited to the academic rigors of a university. Ultimately, the presence of these lower-achieving students hurts those who are more academically inclined, as they end up in watered-down courses in which professors have to focus on bringing the low achievers along.

Who said professors have to focus on bringing the low achievers along? Perhaps there's the opportunity to develop an export industry.

As Philadelphia Federal Reserve economist Tim Schiller has documented, the number of degrees awarded in a state doesn't even ensure a highly educated workforce. As he wrote, "Merely producing college graduates in a state does not guarantee that they will remain there." Businesses and labor are mobile. Unless more jobs are created in the state, some of the students California has paid to educate will probably move out of state to find jobs.

So put together the kind of intellectual experience ambitious students from other states will pay for, and charge them full fare. But, as Professor Svorney notes, that's different from enabling slacker behavior.