Higher Education’s Future?

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2008, 2.2 million freshman students, or 68.6 percent of all high school graduates, were enrolled in college. Most of the high school graduates who attend college are full-time students, though just under 40 percent of non-traditional, older or working students went to college full-time.

Higher education is still considered necessary for success in the American economy, but institutions of higher learning are being challenged as never before by rising tuition, rising operating costs, student unrest, online learning, challenges from for-profit colleges and reductions in funding for public colleges and universities.

What is the future of higher education in America? Is the four-year degree model with students living on or near a campus, is the idea of creating a well-read, well-rounded cohort of critical thinkers perhaps outdated? Can the nation’s colleges and universities prepare students for the competitive challenges of a global economy?

A distinguished panel of university heads that represent the diversity of California’s higher education institutions participated in a Community Advocates/KPCC panel discussion moderated by Airtalk’s Larry Mantle.  It was made possible by generous grants from the Righteous Persons Foundation and the California Wellness Foundation.