Is Higher Education Causing Lower Enrollment with the Message We Give Students?

We have backed ourselves into a corner by creating a non-sustainable system of funding education.  For many years we have worked on making college affordable for everyone and did so well we have come full circle.  Students can afford college now, but only because of loans, Pell Grants and other federal funding.  This way of financing higher education is coming to an end as graduates are struggling to pay back the debt they occurred and warning the next generation of college students to be cautious about the cost effectiveness of a degree.

In this article, Five Reasons "Why College Enrollment Might Be Dropping" three out of four reasons enrollment might be dropping point to funding.

The article and I agree that the most critical determent to grow or maintain enrollment in the future is that the career path students take might not factor well with the salary they will earn and their ability to pay back loans.  Right now, the main marketing slogan colleges are using to attract students is that a higher education is a pathway to a high paying career.  Come on now, who are we kidding with this?

Not all students go to college to be rich, or famous or obtain a high powered career.  The fact that students go to college, major in what they love and end up in a low paying career is not a new phenomena. It has been going on since we invented higher education.  Some students choose majors knowing that they will probably never get a high paying job in the career: vertebrate paleontology, ornithology, veterinarian, social work, teaching, religion, English, French, fine arts, music and I can list many, many more.  The reason students major in those areas is that they want the lifestyle the career gives them.  In fact, sometimes the end result will be that their major becomes an avocation; not a vocation.  But that is OK 

Students chose college and the major because they loved the learning experience and, whether or not they even land a job in their major, they will continue as life long learners and dabblers cultivating and expanding on the knowledge and skills they loved in college.  The skills that will land them a good job are writing, critical thinking, antithetical skills, content knowledge, technology, ability to meet deadlines, communication, work ethic, leadership skills, networking, working in groups and self confidence.  Those come with every major.

We do have to fix the expanding cost of education.   There is no doubt about that but some adjustments will come naturally.  The reduction of students opting to go to college will be the market force to prod higher education back to a fair market price. Less demand the less you can charge for the product.  Capitalism is going to start working here.  Adjusting to market value will be a new experience for higher education but one that will force change in how and when education is delivered to students.

But more important is that we are kidding ourselves and students if the only incentive for going to college is the end result of a high paying job. That belief brought throngs of students to college feeding the higher education boom.  That belief will also put us out of business with the next generation of college students.  Higher ed is in the throws of  understanding if we are in the business of education or job training and then packaging a clear message to students about just what they are paying for, what are the rewards, and exactly what a college education will do for them.

What if MOOCs take off and students begin learning on their own and get jobs?  In the late 90's I listened to college professors who thought that online learning was never going to be considered a valid education choice, that a science major could complete a degree, part time, while working, and for profit institutions could lure students away from traditional college.  These thoughts never held true.

Students who are going to take advantage of MOOC's are those who come to college for self satisfaction, interesting in learning about what enchants them, are self motivated, and will be life long learners.  Sounds just like the students we want in college doesn't it?  They will also be the students who are conscious of cost as well as the quality of education they receive.  They can take a MIT engineering course for free versus one from a the local community college that may as scholarly and rigorous to them, but not as prestigious to a future employer.  

What higher education faculty have been promoting forever is that they are in the business of education, enlightenment and achievement.  This still holds true today with faculty's message to students.  As we cut costs and evaluate what is the role of higher education in the next century we have to change our advertising message to students that is more realistic to the product they will walk away with - a richer, fuller lifestyle.