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Recently I’ve been asked some interesting questions about higher education and I thought I’d take a crack at working out some answers here.  Feel free to leave a comment if you wish.

Question 1:

What are the most pressing issues for the sustainability of higher education in the 21st century?

The most pressing issue facing American higher education, as a whole, is the perception that the value of a college education and college degree no longer justifies the cost of attendance. While few doubt the value of attending the most elite institutions, where competition for admission is fierce, and where completion provides graduates with pathways to success, many parents and students wonder if attending the local public college or university is worth the price.  Engaging in the “return on investment,” debate is objectionable to many people inside higher education. But dismissing the question of “ROI” imperils all of higher education.

Leaders in higher education have to explain the intrinsic value of learning, the instrumental benefits of the college experience, and the extrinsic worth of a college degree to a skeptical public.

And our arguments can’t be a justification for the ever-increasing cost of attendance.  While we’re trumpeting the benefits of attending college we have to find ways to exert downward pressure on tuition and fees.  Of course our state governments should restore funding for public colleges and universities.  Yes, we should seek philanthropic support for our schools.  But ultimately we have to decide, do we want to support a higher education system that reinforces social inequity and stratification or do we hope that our institutions contribute to class mobility?

If it’s the latter, then we have to work to challenge a college rating system based on scarcity and exclusivity.  This is elitism in the worst sense.  Currently the “best’ colleges are the ones that admit the lowest percentage of those that apply.  Colleges get no points for subscribing to an access mission.  In an attempt to shift the frame, The NY Times developed the “College Access Index,” as an alternative to the “best college” ranking systems.  The CAI ranks the 171 public and private colleges with a five-year graduate rate of at least 75% by percent of pell-grant students and net price for for lower- and middle-income families.  This “affordability” ranking includes many of the “top” schools.  But it’s also clear that many schools could be doing much more to make their campuses affordable to lower- and middle-income families.

More soon about “non-traditional” students and academic credentials.

-rs