When it comes to the current fabric of the U.S. higher education system, "it's quite apparent that there are a host of people who feel left out," said Ruth Simmons, president of Prairie View A&M University, at the 2018 New York Times Higher Ed Leaders Forum speaking about the inequitable cradle to career pipeline.
Simmons was one of several experts to contend leaders need "to figure out a way to promote the values that we believe in" while disrupting the monolithic nature of the institution and moving away from elitism in the academy. This is particularly key now, she said, as the nation becomes more diverse and workforce demands shift, noting that many are still being left behind — a reality that erodes the notion of higher education being a part of the American dream, and thus, the vitality of the industry’s business model as a whole.
So, how can the integrity of the industry survive? Leaders at the New York Times forum provided several ideas.
Take back the narrative around why institutions exist
"We savage this continuum of education from the time students start school all the way through college [...] we have made it impossible for people to feel that wherever they are is worthy [...] and you know to be educated in a segregated school and to have wonderful teachers and to be able to take that and make something of it was a wonderful thing [...] so why would making people feel bad about the fact that they're an underperforming schools?" questioned Simmons.
She added the stigma around students going to two-year colleges or accessing alternative pathways to education as being less valuable is part of a systemic problem of elitism that only makes education appear less accessible.
“We don't need to build pillars. We just need to make sure that students continue to love to learn, and they stay in school and they press on wherever they are. That's the message we need to be sending."
And, this focus on brand only exacerbates an industry-wide resistance to accountability and measurement that fails to acknowledge the societal necessity of institutions like the community college, said Margaret Spellings, president of the University of North Carolina System, during the discussion. That's bad for our nation, she said, because these schools can innovate to help the industry survive and make education available to all students.
Stakeholders need to reclaim the narrative around why education, in any form, is a critical lifelong investment and not merely about the job market, she added.
"We've been too focused on brands. Everybody wants their child to go to Harvard or Brown or wherever, but you know the people who were really punching above their weight are community colleges, the comprehensive universities, the HBCUs," said Spellings. "We haven't been able to tell our story, because we don't we don't have a fact base to work from."
Present education as a public good, not a false promise
As conversations swell both within the industry and on Capitol Hill over the value of investing in higher education, Allan Golston, president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said during the panel that extreme steps like free tuition across the industry is not necessarily the right move for practical reasons. Rather, there needs to explanation of the true outputs of higher education, without misrepresentation of what going to college actually yields. This transparency shows investors what they are putting their money into and builds trust in the system over the long run.
"Going to college is probably one of the most important decisions and biggest investments in one's life, and if the question is 'should you have as much information as you need to make an informed decision?' I think the answer is just unequivocally yes," said Golston. "It is a public good; we can manage the downsides of it [...] so that as I'm making that decision for me or my family it's as informed as possible."
He also said that focusing on free tuition misses a fundamental point. “It's not just a financial issue; it can be academic preparedness, and it can be other types of supports that help students succeed. So if you're truly focused on student success and getting them across the finish line then you need to contemplate these other needs," said Golston.
Spellings agreed, noting that industry stakeholders need to care more about success across the pipeline, rather than just at one point with a catch-all solution. "I think we all have to recognize we're serving a student that needs a lot more support than the valedictorian from a suburban neighborhood who was the college goer of the past."
Simmons concluded the session saying institutions are "teetering on the edge of credibility" by making false promises of what the experience can yield without putting the supports to make the dreams of higher education a reality; now, she said, is the time for the industry as a whole to make a culture shift.
"We say we are offering opportunity to students who come from the edges of society; we shouldn't be lying about those things," said Simmons. "And anything we can do to open up what we're doing and expose the way we do it is essential."