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Author: Martin Van Der Werf

What Can Higher Ed Learn from Healthcare Reform? ?>

What Can Higher Ed Learn from Healthcare Reform?

I am thinking of an industry that performs a vital public service with unlimited demand. But it is marked by cost increases that far outstrip inflation, extreme specialization, and a lack of coordination. Sounds familiar, right? But I am thinking of healthcare, not higher education. In many respects, reform of healthcare and higher education are proceeding on parallel tracks. Both are immense industries, with core products that are essential to well-being, heavily subsidized by the public, and entrapped by outdated…

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We Need More Truth Telling in Higher Education ?>

We Need More Truth Telling in Higher Education

A lot is being written about the future of higher education, but truth-telling about the current state of colleges and universities is still in short supply. So a book-length gathering of papers caught my attention — for the breathless way it skewered current practices. Here are some outtakes: Rather than embracing innovations that have swept over the rest of the economy, boosting productivity, lowering prices, and improving quality, most colleges and universities have chosen to batten down the hatches, raise…

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The Perpetual Half-Price Sale on College Tuition ?>

The Perpetual Half-Price Sale on College Tuition

The number of issues bedevilling colleges right now is staggering. But if we were to trace the issue where higher education lost the support of the public, it would be tuition. Think about all the conversations you have about college — don’t most of them begin with price? Who can afford college? Why has it gotten so expensive? How will I ever save enough to send my kids to college? “It’s outrageous these institutions have the audacity to charge so…

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Cost-cutting: Who Will Tell the Faculty? ?>

Cost-cutting: Who Will Tell the Faculty?

A few weeks ago, at the annual meeting of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, there were numerous presentations by universities about cutting costs, paring back administrative bloat, and how to plan communications strategies for assuring that everyone understands why cost-cutting is needed. “Is the faculty involved?” was a recurring question. In most cases, administrators dissembled, and said they were working their way up to bringing in the faculty. It is no surprise that administrators don’t want…

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When Will For-Profit Colleges Ever Shape Up? ?>

When Will For-Profit Colleges Ever Shape Up?

The advance of MOOCs into mainstream higher education has a lot of people wondering if giving away content for free will be the death of traditional higher ed. But the increasing popularity of online courses got me thinking about another troubled part of higher education: for-profit universities, the players that popularized the online course in the first place. The for-profit universities have fought staggering odds to make important inroads against the higher ed establishment. The pioneer, the University of Phoenix,…

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Video Forecasts the End of Higher Education ?>

Video Forecasts the End of Higher Education

“It is the best of times — it is the worst of times. In 2020, people have access to a breadth and depth of knowledge unimaginable in an earlier age. However, (colleges) as you know them have ceased to exist. Academia’s fortunes have waned. Twentieth century universities are an afterthought, a lonely remnant of a not-too-distant past.” So begins a video titled “Epic 2020” that has been getting some attention on the Web. I disagree pretty strongly with some of…

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Disruption is Inevitable: Five Ways to Prepare ?>

Disruption is Inevitable: Five Ways to Prepare

Let’s say you are are a college president watching everything you know in the world of higher education changing. And you are convinced that disruptive innovation is about to overtake your institution. What are the five things you should be focusing on right now to make sure your institution is a survivor. 1. Communicate. This is not the time to retreat to your bunker. Share your thinking with trustees, your colleagues in the administration, faculty leaders, parents, donors and students….

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Faculty v. Administrators: Neither Side Can Win ?>

Faculty v. Administrators: Neither Side Can Win

After an extended Easter weekend spent intentionally away from the headlines and smartphones, it was interesting to come back to a lot of hand-wringing over the economic model of higher education. This is hardly new, but it was interesting to see administrators worrying about rising costs of faculty members and little associated hope for increased productivity. Faculty members, in turn, argue that the growth in the number of administrators and their associated pay packages, is the real cost-driver in higher…

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Small Colleges Need to Show They Understand Parents’ Economic Pain ?>

Small Colleges Need to Show They Understand Parents’ Economic Pain

The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) has been keeping this running list of colleges that are reducing tuition, freezing it for one or more years, offering three-year degree programs, and starting other initiatives to keep the cost of college down. The document helpfully points out that average tuition and fees at private colleges, after adjustment for inflation, actually declined 4.1 percent from 2006-07 to 2011-12. When you factor in the ever-increasing tuition discount rate, the tuition students…

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Is a Campus a College when Everyone Studies Online? ?>

Is a Campus a College when Everyone Studies Online?

We’ve written a lot lately about aspects of colleges that will have to change over the next few years, like admissions, and technology, and teaching styles. We have talked about some of the economic theories that help explain why this is occurring. We have also talked about some of the forces upholding the old model of higher higher education that has been resistant to change, such as marketing and accreditation (and here). But what about the very core of your…

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