The higher education environment has changed dramatically over the last few years. With the current push toward providing credentials and degrees rather than teaching students, universities work to market themselves and compete with other institutions. The students have become customers in a world of rising prices, part-time professors, and revolving door students. The resulting financial crisis effects not only the universities but also the individual students.
In a recent book, College (Un)bound, Selingo (2013) describes the current crisis in higher education and shares the ways colleges and universities must change to meet this crisis. The five disruptive forces that Selingo thinks will change higher education are:
- A Sea of Red Ink
- Disappearing State in Public Higher Education
- Well of Full-Paying Student Running Dry
- Unbundled Alternatives are Improving
- Growing Value Gap
Higher Education has already begun to respond to these disruptive forces through evaluation and strategic decisions. While change is difficult for any institution, the traditional nature of universities creates additional barriers to innovation and growth.Selingo suggests five ways that higher education must change:
- personalized education
- hybrid courses
- unbundled degrees
- fluid timelines
- wise money decision
Do you agree with Selingo’s evaluation and solution to the current crisis? Does the crisis really exist? If so, how should higher education institutions respond?
During Spring 2015, students in the Doctorate in Leadership at Hardin-Simmons University reviewed critical issues in higher education and selected topics to study in more depth. Expanding on some of Selingo’s ideas and countering others, they reviewed recent literature and wrote articles on important topics that colleges and universities face. In the next few weeks, they will share their views in blog posts on this site. Hope you will join in the conversation about the future of higher education.
posted by Mary Christopher, Ph.D.,
Program Director, Doctorate in Leadership, Hardin-Simmons University;
Associate Dean, Irvin School of Education
Selingo, J.J. (2013). College (un)bound: The future of higher education and what it means for students. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co
Ponderings 