Dive Brief:
- The University of Dallas is moving away from its consideration of adult-degree completion as an alternate source of revenue for the school after some faculty expressed concerns about how it would affect the institution’s curriculum, according to Inside Higher Ed.
- The University of Dallas, which boasts a strong core curriculum students take in sequence, is in good financial shape, and some believe that the university may be able to weather any future financial turmoil by expanding its fundraising.
- The debate about adult-degree completion has taken place throughout this past academic year, but President Thomas W. Keefe said he believes that new revenue alternatives will be needed in the years to come due to rising healthcare costs and a 57% university tuition discount rate.
Dive Insight:
The debate at the University of Dallas mirrors ones taking place on campuses throughout the country; though the specific initiative debated may change, liberal arts institutions are striving to find a way to maintain their core values in an economy and environment where students are seeking cheaper alternative options. Supporters of liberal arts core curricula tout the need to stay true to those essentials, arguing that a liberal arts concentration can actually be more beneficial than ever in workplaces increasingly reliant on tech and innovation. But as these arguments continue, liberal arts supporters can work to keep what makes those institutions and curricula unique without condemning the alternative revenue streams which may not endanger those attributes, but could be necessary for the schools to survive.
The debate speaks to the importance of ensuring faculty buy-in to new initiatives at a given institution. Several education experts recently spoke to the need of keeping faculty and staff informed of changes at a school, particularly if the coming years continue to bring seismic changes to the industry in the form of the advent of online learning, for example. Faculty buy-in can help college presidents weather the storm in the wake of unpopular decisions.