Everyone in higher ed these days wants to talk about the erosion of public confidence in higher ed, how the sector is broken, from elite private unive

Higher Ed Musings 11. - by Hollis Robbins (@Anecdotal)

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2024-10-07 01:30:06

Everyone in higher ed these days wants to talk about the erosion of public confidence in higher ed, how the sector is broken, from elite private universities to struggling small liberal arts colleges to public systems — everyone is under new and intense state and federal scrutiny. Nobody has solutions except at the edges. Excuse me while I go look at the new rankings.

Everyone agrees elites should take the lead in making change. Well, many agree. Given the role of elites in widening inequality and political polarization there are questions of trust and direction involved. Change for whom? Will elites do anything that will risk a fall in the rankings?

Still, why not try. A commitment to improving our image, to rethinking the social contract between universities and the public, brought together four former college presidents, leaders of top higher ed associations and funders, national writers on higher ed, distinguished scholars of higher ed, trustees, and a handful of deans and former deans to a two-day convening earlier this month, Private Universities in the Public Interest, hosted at the Stanford Law School.

The goal was a call to action: how should the top 50-100 private colleges and universities respond to diminished trust in institutions that are, by measures such as as global rankings, research productivity, and their reach into the upper echelon of every sector of finance, government, business, and culture industries, in a golden age? What is to be done about the “growing skepticism, resentment, and outright derision from the public and politicians alike,” as a pre-circulated framing essay written by the conveners stated bluntly.