"Broadly speaking, he identifies the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first as exemplifying growth. Growth describes enrollment, of course, but also the pace of technological and economic advancement that was, in part, enabled by the growth of higher education. (The first community college, Joliet Junior College, was founded in 1901, starting a chain reaction of institutional growth that peaked in the 1960s.)"
"In the last decade, more colleges have merged and closed than opened, and many that remain open are working with fewer resources than before. The exceptions, inevitably, are at the top of the prestige hierarchy; Compass Direction State may be on its second or third round of retrenchments, but Ivy U is humming right along. Alexander takes as his central question where we should go from here."
Four scenarios for higher education—growth, collapse, discipline, and transform—frame possible post-2011 trajectories. Growth reflects twentieth-century expansion fueled by community colleges, the GI Bill, coeducation, integration, and broader technological and economic momentum. Since the 2011 enrollment peak, the sector has seen more mergers and closures than openings, widespread resource compression, and persistent prestige-driven divergence. Core pressures include unfavorable demographics, intensified political hostility toward colleges, and a weakening college wage premium. These conditions provoke strategic questions about institutional adaptation, consolidation, priorities, and the choices needed to navigate divergent futures for higher education.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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