Higher Education is Dead; Long Live Higher Education

Higher education’s imminent demise has been long forecast, with a number of factors contributing to this terminal condition. The cost of higher education in the United States is unparalleled in the world, with the average in-state cost of even public universities increasing 63% since 2008. This growth has outpaced all other price indices by far. The fundamental model of higher education has also been called into question. The concept of domain-specific expertise and apprenticeship has been accused of being out of pace with a world where people will change (and lose) jobs many times over. Advances in technology similarly call into question the necessity of human instruction, with artificial intelligence and other new forms of communication and education potentially threatening the traditional centrality of professors. These concerns have been amplified in recent years by a growing chorus of business leaders declaring that “you don’t need a college degree to be successful’. And, of course, the COVID-19 era is now an additional factor in this equation, with students suing their schools for going online midsemester, and institutions facing massive budgetary shortfalls with the spectre of broad scale distance learning in the fall.

And yet: social institutions have remarkable resilience. Is the death of higher education greatly exaggerated? Are we witnessing the steady demise of this cornerstone of the American dream, or just witnessing its transformation? What will higher education look like in 5 years? How can the glacially-paced higher education world stay relevant in an agile world?

Listen to our panel of experts explore these topics in a fun and free-wheeling conversation about the death and re-birth of higher education.