Dive Brief:
- Colleges of arts and sciences across the country are facing enrollment declines and ensuing budget deficits as students shift to professional degrees that lead them directly to a career.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that Indiana University’s Bloomington campus and Ohio State have both dealt with an increasing portion of their campuses’ student bodies entering with arts and sciences credits that allow them to skip out on money-making fundamentals courses.
- One strategy to turn around enrollment declines is to better market liberal arts degrees as paths to concrete career opportunities, a tactic better accomplished so far by professional schools, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Inside Higher Ed also reports that the two campuses are launching new programs to bring in students and cutting costs where they can. The shifts are part of the current budget reality for colleges and universities across the country. One concern about the Obama administration’s proposal for free community college for all is that it will exacerbate budget shortfalls at four-year institutions. If implemented, even more students will show up at colleges like Ohio State and Indiana with their introductory level courses complete.
These large lecture courses that all students are required to take are cash cows for colleges, helping balance out the losses that come from small, higher-level seminars. Free community college is certainly not guaranteed, but as politicians coalesce around the need to reduce the cost of higher education, colleges should start planning ahead.