It’s a tenuous, uneasy time for just about everyone involved in higher education.
For current and prospective students, it’s all about the money. They are asking: Should I invest a five- or six-figure sum to earn a college degree in an era where job prospects for recent graduates are terrible? Would I be better off pursuing a career that doesn’t require a degree, and avoid the debt altogether?
For college administrators, the money matters, too. There’s a cash crunch at many institutions, brought on by declining enrollment, budget cuts and concern that the degrees they present every spring aren’t worth the price students paid to get them.
That’s why some observers see the entire system of higher education in a state of crisis. Some believe the system’s broken, potentially beyond repair. They point to the growing number of private college closures and mergers as a telling canary for the entire higher education industry.
I take a slightly different, more optimistic view.
Yes, higher education faces significant challenges, even trouble. When I see news stories about unprecedented unemployment rates for recent college graduates, they reveal an undeniable disconnect between the degrees students pursue to support their career aspirations and the jobs and skill sets employers desire today. In fact, we’re seeing more employers ditch college degree requirements altogether. It’s a trend that gives everyone—students, parents, administrators, alumni, consultants, you name it—pause.
But my optimism for the future of higher education comes from understanding a root cause that lies behind many of higher education’s current woes. The root cause is fairly simple: For years, the entire higher education ecosystem has operated without a clear line of sight into outcomes.
Here’s what I mean:
If you’re student or parent, where do you go beyond the colleges and universities themselves to get at least a sense of the specific degree and school that is most likely to provide the career path and earning power you’d expect in return for your investment? The answer is “wherever you can,” which often means trusting that someone else’s experience might somehow mirror your own.
If you’re an administrator or consultant, how do you best adjust or reinvent your academic degree and student service programs to deliver the most value for students and ensure your future relevance? The answer current answer is “however we can,” which often means less data-, strategy- and value-driven decisions.
The good news is that new technologies and tools can now unlock more meaningful outcomes-based insights and answers for everyone:
- Students and parents can now see and understand the schools and degree programs that will best provide the return they expect from their investment in higher education, including likely career trajectories and earning power, than those that won’t.
- Administrators can more definitively and strategically reshape their academic and student service programs to stand out from competing schools.
My optimism about the future of higher education comes from the opportunity the availability and application of more reliable and richer outcomes data for anyone with a stake in the game. That’s why I believe higher education is on the cusp of a transparency revolution.
Imagine the confidence and relief students and parents will feel when they truly compare how an investment in one school will pay off compared to another. Imagine how college and university administrators will respond when the proof of their program success gains public recognition.