With Higher Education on Trial, Policy Changes May Be the Only Path to a Winning Case
In the court of public opinion, higher education is on trial. Enrollment has been declining for a decade, and the trend cannot be explained entirely by demographic shifts. More than half of Americans now say they don’t believe college is worth the cost. People from disadvantaged backgrounds are growing especially skeptical, with just 45 percent of students from low-income, first-generation, and BIPOC communities believing in the necessity of education after high school.
If higher education fails to win its case, it’s not only our nation’s colleges and universities that lose. Research shows that higher education is critical for fostering a vibrant democracy, serving as a crucial lever of economic opportunity for both its graduates and the country as a whole. If so much evidence of their importance exists, why have institutions found themselves under attack? The truth is that they have taken their inherent value—and the public’s recognition of this value—for granted. As the needs of students and the workforce rapidly evolve, colleges and universities will also need to do the same.
This requires a cultural shift as much as a technical one. To successfully make this transition, institutions must shore up support from an increasingly skeptical public. Higher education cannot serve as its own witness, however. The task, then, falls on policymakers, who can bridge the gap between colleges and the communities they serve—and, in turn, create a more relevant system of postsecondary learning.
The impact of higher education can best be understood by looking at the economic and social costs incurred by those who do not earn a college degree. High school graduates who do not go to college are about 40 percent more likely to be unemployed and twice as likely to live in poverty. While they pay 45 percent less in taxes, they are far more likely to require nutritional assistance, Medicaid benefits, public housing, and other social services. College attainment also has an impact on mortality, to a startling degree. The adult life expectancy of Americans without a college education is eight and a half years less than those who earned a degree.
This all amounts to a very strong argument for higher education’s value on a societal level. But it’s probably not going to change the hearts and minds of your average American, who is more concerned about finding a job that can support themselves and their family. The most straightforward way to better understand what people want from higher education is to ask them—and ask again.
Educators will have to learn to listen more and lecture less, and policymakers will have to help the public see that college leaders are ready to respond to community needs. Local leaders like teachers, coaches, and religious figures can serve as key allies. They have deep roots in their communities and can provide sage guidance, as well as act as a connection point. Such partnerships are especially critical in rural, more conservative areas, where skepticism around higher education is particularly high.
Earning people’s trust starts with making sure they have a seat at the table. The College of Eastern Idaho, for example, is ensuring that the communities it serves are involved in the design process of its programs. Officials have built community buy-in by conducting surveys at popular local lunch spots and by organizing construction clinics in rural areas. Increased government funding aimed specifically at these kinds of vocational training and workforce development needs can help higher education institutions better serve their immediate communities.
This is not an argument, however, for simply shifting funding from traditional academic degrees to vocational and workforce programs. Both aspects of higher education demand increased investment if we want the United States to maintain its power and standing on the world stage. Indeed, community-minded institutions are investing in micro-pathways that provide students with the opportunity to earn stackable credentials based on in-demand skills that quickly lead to better-paying jobs while still counting toward a degree.
Of course, greater relevancy is only half the battle. Affordability is also key, and policymakers have a role to play here, too. In 2021, the Idaho legislature invested $1 million in helping community colleges transition to using open educational resources. These are course materials students can access for little to no cost. At the time, it was the largest-ever per-capital investment in OER by any state. Soon after, California made its own historic investment, further demonstrating the importance of democratizing educational content to lower college costs.
This kind of investment and support is essential. Policymakers can go even further and offer financial incentives for colleges and universities that demonstrate adaptability in curriculum, student support services, and engagement with local community needs. Many institutions are historically bound to models that make very little sense for the needs of today’s students. As Brian Rosenberg, former president of Macalester College and president-in-residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, recently wrote in the Chronicle of Higher Education, institutions continue to rely on practices that are “relatively ineffective and that were widespread when phrenology and bloodletting were in vogue.”
The four-year baccalaureate degree as we know it largely only exists to support a business model that has long been in need of a revamp. As it turns out, not every field requires 120 credits to demonstrate mastery. Earlier this year, Brigham Young University-Idaho acknowledged how arbitrary the current system is by announcing it would soon offer several online degrees as streamlined three-year baccalaureate programs. It’s a change that’s easier for a private institution like BYU-I to make than it is for public colleges and universities, especially open-access institutions operating with limited resources. They will need incentives and support that allow for the same level of adaptability and innovation.
The country cannot afford higher education’s slide to continue. Policymakers must face this reckoning head-on and mount a defense on higher education’s behalf that resonates with a weary jury. It’s time to reimagine postsecondary learning for the future. Policymakers, educators, and local leaders must work together to create a system of higher education that will better serve all students.
