Is Higher Education in the Throws of an Existential Crisis?

by Alison Snyder and Kim Hart “Universities were designed to last, not change.” Bridget Burns, executive director, the University Innovation Alliance U.S. colleges and universities — historically cornerstones of society — are wrestling with a wave of rapid changes coming at the U.S. The big picture: Higher education institutions — private, public, for-profit and not — are buckling in the face of demographic shifts, the arrival of automation, declining enrollment, political headwinds and faltering faith in the system. Today’s student isn’t necessarily the “first-time, full-time” one that higher education is currently constructed around, says Julie Peller of Higher Learning Advocates. Instead, 37% are over the age of 25, […]