The road ahead for America's colleges and universities
"Current commentary about the US higher education system is steeped in crisis rhetoric of impending doom. High costs, exploding debt, and a digital tsunami supposedly will combine to disrupt and sweep away many of the nation's higher education institutions, or change them beyond recognitio...
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| Format: | UnknownFormat |
| Sprache: | eng |
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New York, NY, United States of America
Oxford University Press
2017
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Tag hinzufügen | Zusammenfassung: | "Current commentary about the US higher education system is steeped in crisis rhetoric of impending doom. High costs, exploding debt, and a digital tsunami supposedly will combine to disrupt and sweep away many of the nation's higher education institutions, or change them beyond recognition. In this book we evaluate the threats - real and perceived - that American colleges and universities must confront over the next thirty years. Those threats include rising costs endemic to personal services like higher education, growing income inequality in the US that affects how much families can pay, demographic changes that will affect demand, and labor market changes that could affect the value of a degree. We also evaluate changing patterns of state and federal support for higher education, and the new digital technologies rippling through the entire economy. Although we see great challenges ahead for America's complex mix of colleges and universities, our analysis is an antidote to the language of crisis that dominates contemporary public discourse. The bundle of services that four-year colleges and universities provide likely will retain its value for the traditional age range of college students. The division between in-person education for most younger students and online coursework for older and returning students appears quite stable. Apocalyptic tellings often have a happy ending as an online future makes higher education both better and cheaper. We are less pessimistic about the present, but more worried about the future. The diverse American system of four-year institutions is resilient and adaptable. But the threats we identify will weigh most heavily on the schools that disproportionately serve America's most at-risk students." " The US higher education system is on the verge of a revolution, so some observers claim. Archibald and Feldman, leading analysts, provide an incisive overview of the challenges facing and possibilities for America's universities and colleges in their training future generations. And they demonstrate that our higher education system is resilient and adaptable enough to weather the internal, external, and technological threats without changing campuses beyond recognition. The Road Ahead examines the threats posed to the current health of higher education by rising tuition and falling government support, as well as from new digital technologies rippling through the entire economy. Some predict disaster, pointing to high costs, exploding debt, and a digital tsunami that supposedly will combine to disrupt and sweep away many of the nation's higher education institutions, or change them beyond recognition. Archibald and Feldman provide a more nuanced view. They argue that the bundle of services that four-year colleges and universities provide will retain its value for the traditional age range of college students. Less certain, Archibald and Feldman argue, is whether the system will continue to be a force for social and economic opportunity. The threats are most dire at schools that disproportionately serve America's most underprivileged students. At the same time, growing income inequality reduces the ability of many students and their families to pay for higher education. Archibald and Feldman suggest a range of policy options at the state and federal level that will help America's higher education system continue to fulfill its promise." Machine generated contents note: -- Table of Contents -- Part 1: Introduction -- 1. The Rhetoric of Higher Education in Crisis -- 2. The Diverse US Higher Education System -- 3. The College Bundle -- Part 2: Threats -- 4. Internal Threat I - The Rising Costs of Higher Education -- 5. Internal Threat II - Will Students Keep Coming -- 6. Environmental Threat I - Stagnating Family Income -- 7. Environmental Threat II - Public Disinvestment -- 8. Technological Threat - The Online Revolution -- Part 3: Summary and Policy -- 9. The Enduring Bundle -- 10. The Evolutionary Future -- 11. The Road Ahead - Policy Options -- REFERENCES |
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| Beschreibung: | Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Beschreibung: | xii, 278 Seiten Illustrationen 24 cm |
| ISBN: | 9780190251918 978-0-19-025191-8 |