| Most Americans already know that a crisis is | | | | Crisis: American Students Will Be Unable to Train for |
| happening in American higher education. | | | | Available Jobs |
| Tuition costs are surging, putting a college education | | | | The days of the English major, the philosophy major, |
| out of reach for many Americans. College grads are | | | | and the general studies major may be numbered, as |
| defaulting on college loans. They cannot find jobs in | | | | more students seek training for jobs that they can |
| the fields they trained for. | | | | actually find after graduation. They are training as |
| Those trends make the news every day. Yet they | | | | medical technicians, computer programmers and air |
| are only the most visible signs of deeper troubles | | | | conditioning technicians. Yet just as students are |
| that threaten to destabilize American higher education | | | | looking for practical training, the sources of that |
| in the coming years. Let's take a closer look. | | | | training are harder to find, for a few reasons. |
| Coming Crisis: Colleges Will Price themselves Further | | | | First, community colleges are no longer offering as |
| and Further Out of Reach | | | | much practical training as they once did. To attract |
| According to the U.S. Census, the median income of | | | | more students, many have modified their course |
| U.S. households in 1970 was $8,390. By 1989, it has | | | | offerings to become more like private institutions. |
| risen to $28,910. And by 2005, it was $46,326. Those | | | | While President Obama has pledged to invest heavily |
| figures indicate that Americans today are earning | | | | in community colleges and upgrade their training |
| about 5.5 the salaries that they earned 40 years ago. | | | | programs, the changes are long overdue. |
| How much have college costs grown? According to | | | | Second, for-profit colleges and universities are in |
| the Congressional Budget Office, the average yearly | | | | trouble. A number of them are being investigated |
| tuition at a four-year public American university in | | | | right now by Congress because of shady recruiting |
| 1970 was $480. The average tuition at a four-year | | | | practices and abuse of government programs for |
| private college or university was a lot higher, at | | | | funding higher education. It seems likely that a |
| $1,980. | | | | number of for-profit schools will shut their doors. |
| Today, according to data from The College Board, | | | | The result? American students will find it harder to |
| tuition and fees at four-year state universities | | | | find schools that offer the practical training they need |
| currently average $7,020 per year for students who | | | | to secure jobs. |
| live in- state, and $11,528 for students who live out | | | | And we all know what can happen when a country's |
| of state. And private four-year colleges charge an | | | | workers are under-trained, compared to workers in |
| average or $26,273 per year in tuition and fees. | | | | other countries. The result will likely be further |
| So tuition costs are rising at a rate that far outpaces | | | | damage to the American economy and business. |
| the growth in income of the typical American | | | | What Will Save American Higher Education? |
| household. While income has grown by a factor of 5.5 | | | | The trends outlined above are grim. Yet the situation |
| in the last 40 years, the cost of attending a state | | | | is far from hopeless. A number of positive trends are |
| college has increased by a factor of 15 for in-state | | | | at work that point to the possibility that American |
| students and by a factor of about 24 for | | | | higher education is not going away, but simply |
| out-of-state students. And the cost of attending a | | | | changing. |
| private college has increased by a factor of more | | | | * America still has the strongest educational |
| than 13. | | | | infrastructure in the world. We simply have more |
| And colleges are planning tuition increases for the | | | | colleges and universities than any other country. Many |
| coming years. It's the big squeeze. For many | | | | of these institutions are already reinventing |
| American families, the dream of sending a child to | | | | themselves by offering distance learning options, |
| college is slipping even further out of reach. | | | | three-year degree programs and other incentives for |
| Crisis: American Colleges Will Close | | | | modern learners. |
| Endowments at American colleges and universities | | | | * Americans' desire for education remains strong. |
| have dropped dramatically during the current | | | | With so many of our citizens hungering for learning, |
| economic downturn. At the University of Delaware, | | | | there is ample incentive for colleges to develop new |
| the endowment shrank by 24.8%. Gettysburg | | | | learning options for them. |
| College lost 25.3%, and the list goes on and on. | | | | * The timeline of education has changed. More |
| Top-tier, well-funded institutions will weather the | | | | Americans are returning to college at all stages of life. |
| crisis. But a growing number of smaller American | | | | The result is that a larger pool of Americans who are |
| private colleges and universities are already finding it | | | | interested in higher education. |
| difficult to attract enough tuition-paying | | | | * Distance learning is moving into the forefront of |
| undergraduates to keep their doors open. With | | | | American higher education. As Bill Gates predicted on |
| increasing frequency, these schools are making their | | | | August 9 in his talk at the Techonomy conference in |
| troubles known. | | | | Lake Tahoe, it is already possible to deliver a college |
| There's another reason that colleges are in trouble. | | | | education over the Internet for as little as $2,000. |
| With the lack of jobs awaiting graduates, it is difficult | | | | In the end, we predict that American ingenuity will |
| to convince many American families that it is really | | | | not only survive these crises, but turn America into a |
| worth paying $30,000, $40,000 or more a year to | | | | new kind of community of learners. |
| earn a college degree. | | | | |