| I am asked all the time about what I see for the future of higher education. Unfortunately, I think it will look a lot like it does today, because most institutions are resistant to any real change. Nevertheless, fundamental change is needed in several key areas.
Affordability: While the Obama administration is trying to make it easier to repay student loans, the focus will increasingly shift to finding more cost-effective ways to educate. This will require using technology to change teaching and learning and creating new business models. To this point, colleges and universities have treated technology mostly as an added cost rather than a means to improve productivity and reduce costs. It is used to deliver classes remotely, without changing the way the classes operate or the time it takes to complete them.
Institutions may also become more affordable by becoming more specialized. Colleges and universities will need to do fewer things very well at a higher volume. Students are no longer place-bound, so institutions no longer need to be all things to all people in their communities.
Accountability: While universities do have a broader role in providing general education, for students and employers, the top three reasons for college are jobs, jobs, jobs. Institutions are being asked to be more accountable for results – graduates need to get good jobs, and employers expect graduates to be well-prepared for their jobs.
Increasingly, states are moving toward some sort of performance funding, tying at least some state funding to performance metrics – graduation rates, retention rates, transfer rates, etc. – rather than enrollments. Policy makers and consumers want to have a better understanding of what we are getting for our higher education expenditures. We can expect this focus to sharpen in the coming decade.
Students as consumers: College students are changing, and they will continue to change. The majority of college students today are nontraditional students: They work, are over 25, and have families. They will increasingly demand educational experiences that are more tailored to their individual needs. Instead of requiring students to fit into institutions’ systems, institutions will need to develop models, programs, and systems that fit the student. Today’s tech-savvy students are accustomed to finding information and conducting business online, on their own schedules.
Competency-based education: Competency-based education is “the new black” in higher education, but it is easier to claim it than to actually do it. This model allows students to move through their degree programs at a pace that fits their lives, knowledge levels, and learning styles, making it a great fit for today’s student consumers. Western Governors University has demonstrated that it is more affordable, more accountable, and more tailored to the individual learning needs of students, and we have done it at scale. |