# The Future of Colleges



## EM_PS (Jul 7, 2008)

Thought this might be interesting for debate; article by Arthur Levine from Columbia University appeared in 'The Michigan Professional Engineer' publication - He speculates on 9 inevitable changes likely to happen in the coming years to our nation's colleges &amp; universities -

1. Higher-education providers will become even more numerous &amp; more diverse - expect new brand names &amp; a new hierarchy of quality in higher-ed institutions i.e. Microsoft University or the British Open University.

2. Three basic types of colleges &amp; universities are emerging:

a. Brick universities - traditional residential institutions

b. Click universities - online, commercial virtual universities

c. Brick &amp; Click - combo of the 1st two.

3. Higher Ed is becoming more individualized; students, not instituitions, will set the educational agenda

4. The focus of higher ed is shifting from teaching to learning - shift from studying for a defined # of hours, earning X # of credits to earn Y degree, towards focusing on outcomes that students achieve.

5. The traditional functions of higher education could become unbundled - referring to unbundling of teaching, research, and service i.e., teaching is only function seen to be "profitable"

6. Faculty members will become increasingly independent of colleges &amp; universities -

7. Degrees will wither in importance - with the change in emphasis from institutional process to educational outcomes, degrees will become far less meaningful. Rather a transcript of student's competencies including knowledge &amp; skills will be desirable.

8. Every person will have an educational passport - as traditional degrees lose importance, the nation will need to establish a central bureau that records each person's educational achievements - said passport or portfolio will record a student's lifetime educational history.

9. Dollars will follow the students more than the educators - public &amp; private financial supporters will increasingly invest in the educational consumer since emphasis will be on outcomes.

Thoughts, concerns, or praise? I can certainly see the NCEES boys hating this. . . .


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## benbo (Jul 7, 2008)

Maybe over time, and I mean a long time, some of these things will come to pass. But if you look at places like University of Phoenix, it has been aorund for 30 years and I think most people still regard it as a joke, while "Brick and Mortar" universities are becoming more popular and selective. I don't see Harvard or Caltech folding anytime soon, although they may expand their "click" programs for the main purpose of added income.


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## Freon (Jul 7, 2008)

I have to disagree with the article, at least as it would apply to science and engineering fields. Having worked both sides of the education fence; research is where the money is. And to do meaningful research, Professors need slave-wage skilled labor, called grad students. Where do grad students come from? They are cherry-picked out of the masses of undergraduates. So in order to "feed the beast", and keep all those professors collecting research money, we have to have a steady stream of freshmen checking into the dorms each August.

Besides, what would insitutions of higher learning do with all those football stadiums?

Freon


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## snickerd3 (Jul 7, 2008)

Freon said:


> Besides, what would insitutions of higher learning do with all those football stadiums?
> Freon


Rent them to the NFL of course. While the Soldiers field was getting its facelift the Bears played their homegames down at University of Illinois Campus in Champaign-Urbana.


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## TXengrChickPE (Jul 7, 2008)

Freon said:


> I have to disagree with the article, at least as it would apply to science and engineering fields. Having worked both sides of the education fence; research is where the money is. And to do meaningful research, Professors need slave-wage skilled labor, called grad students. Where do grad students come from? They are cherry-picked out of the masses of undergraduates. So in order to "feed the beast", and keep all those professors collecting research money, we have to have a steady stream of freshmen checking into the dorms each August.


I agree. Some of the things MAY come to pass for Liberal Arts degrees... but I think science and engineering will always be research driven.


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## EM_PS (Jul 7, 2008)

I can see items 1-3 happening or occurring presently in the case of 2. Also maybe 4 - 6 down the road. . . .though concerning item 5, research, like college football, only brings in hard dollars for a small # of institutions, so this may have a more probable liklihood of occuring. unfortunately, intitutions that engage only in teaching (if seen as most profitable) may become intellectually impoverished w/ out the contributions of research &amp; service.


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## squishles10 (Jul 11, 2008)

snickerd3 said:


> Rent them to the NFL of course. While the Soldiers field was getting its facelift the Bears played their homegames down at University of Illinois Campus in Champaign-Urbana.


Lol- good point. The "Tennessee Oilers" played at Vandy my freshman year. I got so tired of idiots running around campus asking where the stadium is. "It's under the huge towering stadium lights. I can see why they didn't let YOU in here..."


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