The data from NACUBO’s most recent tuition discounting study "show that American higher education is moving into dangerous and uncharted waters that demand different decisions based on new ways of thinking." So writes Brian Mitchell, former president of Bucknell University and Washington & Jefferson College, in a recent Huffington Post blog entry.
president and CEO of NACUBO
Mitchell, now a higher education consultant, goes on to say: "The problem is that America changed fairly dramatically in the early years of the 21st century, evolving into a weary and less optimistic society tested by incessant war, manufacturing decline, new technology, and global competition … . Colleges and universities largely looked inward, relying on older assumptions that tuition fees, government loans, student debt, institution retrenchment—and for the lucky few, endowment drawdowns—made possible."
This year’s tuition discount study debunks one of those assumptions: that raising the discount rate will continue to drive enrollment. In fact, the average rate reached an all-time high of 48.6 percent for full-time freshmen, up from 47.1 percent the year before.
At the same time, the NACUBO study shows that 37.5 percent of institutions reported declines in freshman classes and across the entire undergraduate bodies from 2014–15. Among undergraduates, 77.2 percent received institutional grants for that academic year.
These numbers—along with the ongoing funding challenges for public institutions—underscore the need for critical tools and initiatives that NACUBO has set as priorities: the Economic Models Project (EMP) and the "Value of Higher Education" article series.
This issue of the magazine explains some significant findings of the EMP committee, which conducted dozens of focus groups with representatives of not only the association’s four constituent groups, but also with leaders from other higher education associations, think tanks, and state budget offices.
Thousands of comments collected from the groups point out many similarities in the suite of challenges facing higher education leaders. At the same time, unique barriers emerged for each constituency.
The sections of this issue are built around higher education’s historical roots, current pressures, and projections for the future
Defining Forces
Don’t miss Associate Editor Khesia Taylor’s "" for a pictorial review of higher education’s evolution.
Rough Times, Creative Solutions
Future Values
What does the future hold for higher education? It’s complicated. The NACUBO 2016 Profile of Higher Education Chief Business Officers reveals that retirement in the next five years is on the minds of more than 40 percent of the CBOs responding to the survey, pointing to a lot of leadership churn. In "" Apryl Motley digs deeper into the study to uncover the succession plans—and lack thereof—at several colleges and universities.
In recent years, the long-held notion that higher education is a public good, benefiting all aspects of the economy and society, has come under serious question. In response, we’re developing key messaging for stakeholders to turn to when communicating the other side of the value story. "" feature, you’ll read the stories of alumni who have become everything from law clerk, to construction company CEO; from NIH research fellow, to application developer at Intel—all with amazing twists and turns along the way.
Circling back to Brian Mitchell, he writes, in "": "What’s striking about higher education modeling is that there’s so little to work with at the margins. … But it has enough flexibility built in to put the pieces of the puzzle together differently. … As for-profit institutions measure their costs increasingly against retention, graduation, employment, and future income levels, the same criteria will also be applied to the nonprofits."
What’s the future of higher education? It’s complicated, but we will all play an important part in drafting the next chapter.
JOHN WALDA is president and CEO of NACUBO.