How are colleges run? Is their unusual practice of “shared governance” in danger?
Public and private colleges are run by the governing boards that have fiduciary responsibility for them—be they the self-perpetuating boards of trustees that run private colleges, the politically appointed (and in some...
What does “disruption” mean when it comes to the future of higher education?
In this period of what might be considered higher education’s era of the re-set, “disruption” may well be the key buzzword. In the 1990s, Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen coined...
How much does America spend on higher education, and how has that changed over time?
Higher education is big business. The nearly $500 billion in revenues generated annually by colleges and universities represented about 3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2012, roughly...
Should we be optimistic about the future of higher education in America?
In May 2014, Gallup reported results of the first of five planned annual surveys on the state of American college graduates. The landmark survey found that compared to the population as a whole,...
Is higher education in America in crisis?
Over the past thirty years, the price of college has gone up faster than prices of almost all other goods and services. Student debt is at an all-time high of $1.2 trillion. Doubts about the value of college...
Who goes to college in America?
The population of the United States is far better educated today than it has ever been, and by some measures, that’s a national success story. In 1971, only 12 percent of adults aged twenty-five years and older held a...
