For Hadley and Rory, and their future Copyright © 2013 by Jeffrey J Selingo All rights reserved This edition published by special arrangement with Amazon Publishing For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003 www.hmhbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available ISBN 978-0-544-02707-7 DOC 10 Some material in this book has appeared, in slightly different form, in the Chronicle of Higher Education CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Part I HOW WE GOT HERE The Great Credential Race The Customer Is Always Right The Trillion-Dollar Problem Part II THE DISRUPTION The Five Disruptive Forces That Will Change Higher Education Forever A Personalized Education The Online Revolution Part III THE FUTURE The Student Swirl Degrees of Value The Skills of the Future 10 Why College? CONCLUSION FUTURE FORWARD CHECKLIST FOR THE FUTURE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NOTES SOURCES ABOUT THE AUTHOR INDEX INTRODUCTION Bernardsville is an affluent village of nineteenth-century colonial homes, a small town center, and modern strip malls located in northern New Jersey, just thirty-five miles from midtown Manhattan It’s the type of American bedroom community where the college-educated settle, start families, watch their children grow up on the town ball fields, and then send them off to college after graduation from Bernards High School With a rich selection of Advanced Placement courses and the exclusive two-year International Baccalaureate curriculum, the 750-student high school is often ranked among the best public schools in the state In the fall of 2005, Samantha Dietz entered her senior year at Bernards She was a member of the debate club, Harvard Model Congress, and worked for the student newspaper She took Advanced Placement psychology, as well as several International Baccalaureate courses, including English, French, and environmental science She maintained a 3.9 grade-point average And like almost all of her senior class, she was bound for college the following fall Dietz would be the first in her family to go to college Her parents had solid jobs in technology, despite having only high-school diplomas They didn’t push her to go to college, but Dietz’s teachers and guidance counselors did, especially to four-year colleges She applied to more than half a dozen schools: Rutgers University, Drew University, Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey; Hofstra University in New York; and Allegheny College and Bucknell University in Pennsylvania She was accepted to all but Bucknell, where she was put on the wait list When decision time came in the spring, Dietz closely examined the financial-aid offers from each of the colleges For her, the choice would be strictly about the bottom line Fairleigh Dickinson offered her the most financial aid, nearly all of it in grants that wouldn’t have to be paid back Its campus was about twenty minutes away, so she could live at home and save on room and board With Fairleigh Dickinson’s financial package, Dietz’s tuition bill would be about half of the university’s $25,000 list price at the time Her decision was easy What Dietz failed to examine was Fairleigh Dickinson’s graduation rate In 2006, only 38 percent of its students graduated within six years, a rate well below all of the other schools she had considered The two other local schools on her list, Rutgers and Drew, graduated more than 70 percent of their students within six years Though Fairleigh Dickinson was giving Dietz a boatload of money, her chances of emerging at the other end with a degree were pretty dismal Dietz took a full slate of classes her first semester To pay tuition, she waitressed and helped manage a restaurant near her house She worked twenty-five hours a week, mostly on nights and weekends “By Thanksgiving, I was exhausted I had no downtime,” she recalls She was doing well in school, with mostly B’s in her classes “I felt like I was killing myself for nothing,” Dietz says “This was money I could be saving and starting my life I was managing a restaurant, handling finances and employees I was learning a lot less about the real world in school and paying so much for it.” Toward the end of the semester, she received a letter from the university announcing that state funds to private colleges in New Jersey were at risk of being cut It was a warning: She would likely need to pay even more the following fall So she dropped out of college The Dropout Crisis The story of Samantha Dietz is not unique It reflects a broad, national trend in American higher education, where some 400,000 students drop out every year.1 For most of the twentieth century, the United States bragged that it had the best colleges and universities in the world—and rightfully so Since the end of World War II, when colleges and universities threw open their doors to returning GIs, helping to create a vast middle class that defined a generation, these institutions have been the envy of the world and a symbol of American greatness They attracted the most talented students from other countries, and graduated young Americans who were the best educated in the world Not anymore Over the last thirty years—and particularly in the first decade of the new millennium—American higher education has lost its way At the very top, the most elite and prestigious institutions remain the best—the world still clamors to get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, Amherst, Williams, and a few dozen other household brands But at the colleges and universities attended by most American students, costs are spiraling out of control and quality is declining just as increasing international competition demands that higher education be more productive and less expensive Only slightly more than 50 percent of American students who enter college leave with a bachelor’s degree Among wealthy countries, only Italy ranks lower As a result, the United States is now ranked number twelve among developed nations in higher-education attainment by its young people.2 As the baby boomer generation leaves the workforce, the country risks having successive generations less educated than the ones that preceded them for the first time Such trends carry significant economic risks for the United States For every dollar earned by college graduates, those who drop out without a degree earn sixty-seven cents Since the turn of the century, average wages for high-school graduates—who today make up about half of the adult population—have fallen considerably to just over $19,000, below the federal poverty level for a family of four Nothing short of winning the lottery helps ensure a young person will achieve the American dream quite like a college degree A four-year college credential is the best ticket—and perhaps the only ticket—for kids from the poorest families to get ahead For children from families at higher income levels (defined as $61,000 and above), a degree helps them make it to the top themselves In 2010, four years after Dietz quit Fairleigh Dickinson, she signed up for a class at nearby Raritan Valley Community College Since then, she has taken one class a semester, paying about $500 a course She wishes her counselors in high school had encouraged her to consider community college, instead of mocking two-year institutions as places for students who couldn’t hack it on a four-year campus Now, Dietz is twenty-four years old and working for a real estate company Her job doesn’t require a degree, but she thinks she’ll eventually get one She has heard the statistics on the long-term payoff of a degree, but for the moment Dietz feels she is better off than many of her highschool friends who went to college “They graduated and are in worse situations,” she says “They are back to waitressing or nannying, not doing anything with their degree They are living at home and in tons of debt I’m in a much better situation.” A Risk-Averse, Self-Satisfied Industry American higher education is broken Like another American icon—the auto industry in Detroit—the higher-education industry is beset by hubris, opposition to change, and resistance to accountability Even the leaders of colleges and universities think we’re in trouble More than one-third of them say American higher education is headed in the wrong direction.3 In 2006, in its final report from a year-long study, a federal commission studying the future of higher education warned of the dangers of complacency “What we have learned over the last year makes clear that American higher education has become what, in the business world, would be called a mature enterprise: increasingly risk-averse, at times self-satisfied, and unduly expensive,” it said “History is littered with examples of industries that, at their peril, failed to respond to—or even to notice—changes in the world around them, from railroads to steel manufacturers.”4 Change comes very slowly to higher education Many institutions in the United States were established more than two centuries ago, with a handful dating back to the days before the American Revolution Tradition is important at these colleges A confluence of events—flagging state support for public colleges, huge federal budget deficits, and falling household income—now makes it necessary to consider new approaches Ideas for change are everywhere Almost every day a report about innovation in higher education or an invitation to a meeting about its future lands on my desk In April 2012, I made my way to one of the largest of those gatherings, the Education Innovation Summit at Arizona State University The summit was notable for who wasn’t there As I scanned the name tags of the 800 or so attendees, I found very few were actual educators—the college presidents, professors, or others who spend their days on campuses immersed in the business of higher education This gathering at an office park for start-ups run by Arizona State had attracted educational entrepreneurs, CEOs, and investors to hear talks about the future of education and see demonstrations from more than a hundred companies promising to bring massive change to the Crow, Michael, xiii, 76, 172–73 Cummings, Lisa, 203–4 customers: students seen as, xix, 5, 18, 19–34, 174 Cygansky, David, 206 Dale, Stacy Berg, 131–32 Damon, William, 146 Dartmouth College, 165 data-mining: in higher education, 73–74, 76, 78, 81–82, 84 and privacy, 84–85, 127–28 of students, 76, 78, 81–84 Davidson College, 94 graduate job-placement at, 158 Degree Compass, 83–84 Delta Project, 26–27 Denley, Tristan, 81–82, 83–84 Denneen, Jeff, 59 DeVry University, 23 Dietz, Samantha: attends community college, xi–xii drops out of college, ix–x, 176 “digital natives”: “Millennials” as, 173 DiPietro, Rene, 144 dormitories See student housing Dragas, Helen, 55 Drew University, 60 Drexel University, 31, 43 and community redevelopment, 188–89 Duke University, 57, 90, 153 Duncan, Arne, 69 earnings, lifetime: higher education influences, xi, 38–39, 122–23, 129–33, 168 earnings, projected: college majors and, 126, 129–30, 143, 146–47, 181 and college selectivity, 132–33 colleges conceal, 122, 127, 140 community colleges and, 125–26 limitations of studies, 130–32 PayScale.com reports, 128–29, 131 and student-loan debt, 38–39, 50–51 of Virginia college graduates, 125–27, 129, 131 Eastern Kentucky University, 16, 24 Eaton, Lance, 23 Edmunds, Cullen, 133–37 education, competency-based: at Empire State College, 117–18 online learning and, 113–14 prior learning experience in, 117–19, 120, 208 at Southern New Hampshire University, 116 at Western Governors University, 113–14, 116, 117, 120–21, 170 education, higher See also colleges and universities as an investment, xx, 8, 20, 122, 128, 159, 207–8 in Asia, 66 competency-based, xx, 112–14 consolidation in, 72 cost of accreditation in, 11–12 credit hour as measurement of, 112–13, 120, 175 data-mining in, 73–74, 76, 78, 81–84 declining quality, xi, 154 decreasing financial support for, xviii, xix, 8–9 defining quality in, 139–41, 172–73 democratization of, 176 dumbing-down of, 24 effectiveness evaluated, 24–25, 123 as function of wealth, xvii and growth of middle class, x–xi, 162, 167 increased costs of, xi, xv–xvi, 20, 24, 26–30, 70, 85, 111, 122–23, 157 increased demand for, 18, 28, 40, 57, 167–68 and increased income inequality, 167–68, 174 as an industry, xii–xiii, xv, 3–5, 72, 120, 175 influence on lifetime earnings, xi, 38–39, 122–23, 129–33, 138, 146, 168 information technology and, xviii–xix, 72, 76 innovative technology and personalization of, 23, 74–78, 81, 175–80, 182–83, 209 and market forces, xviii, 22, 28 in Mesa, Arizona, 4–5 models for the future, 175–83, 184–206 need for questioned, 160–61, 170 Obama on, 70 outdated model of, 174 predicted end of, xvi, xviii slowness of change in, xii–xiii, xvi societal effects and benefits of, 3–4, 123, 165–66, 168–70, 174–75 Thiel questions usefulness of, 160–61 tradition in, xii–xiii, xx, 99 urban concentration of, 166–67 Education Innovation Summit (2012), xiii, 76, 120 education, liberal arts: employers value, 155–59, 191–92, 210 importance of, xix, 120, 130, 147, 155 education, open, 90–91, 95–96 edX: and online learning, 90, 170 Ehrenberg, Ronald, 141 Eisman, Amy, 9–10 Elmore, Kenneth, 31 Empire State College: competency-based education at, 117–18 employers: and college majors, 145, 147, 149, 159, 210 and educational credentials, 157 and educational failure, 154 recruitment practices of, 156–57 value liberal arts education, 155–59, 191–92, 210 employment: modern mobility in, 144 environmental sustainability: Portland State University and, 194 Erasmus, Desiderius, 192 Evenbeck, Scott E., 186–87 Everest College, 23 Facebook, xiii, 51, 119, 173, 187 faculty: changing role of, 77–78, 149–50 interests of determine college structure, 148 part-time adjuncts, 20–21, 23, 150 seek prestige, 17 as service providers, 21–22 social status of, student interaction with, 149–52, 177–78, 196 students evaluate, 20–23, 209 teaching passion among, 149–50 tenured, 4, 17, 20–21 Fairleigh Dickinson University: graduation rate, x Fallis, Sue, 195 FastCompany, 115 FastWeb.com, 50 Ferreira, Jose, 74–76 FinAid.org, 50, 182 financial aid: and family savings, 43, 181–82 federal role in, 40–43, 45, 50, 140, 141, 180 grants as, x, 40–41 increased need for, xix, 17, 20 lack of standardized disclosure in, 42 merit-based, 16–17 proposed restructuring of, 180–82 and student loans, 35–36, 39, 46–47, 111, 175–76, 180–82, 210–11 and tuition discounting, 29, 57–58, 60, 66, 132, 181, 211 Flanagan, Sarah, 128 Florida: opens new medical schools, 14 Florida A&M University, Florida International University, 14 Florida, Richard, 167 Florida State University, 14 Fordham University, 5–6, 23, 43–44 Franklin & Marshall College, 133–34, 135–36, 144–45, 184, 188–89 graduate job placement at, 158–59 Fremont-Smith, Jennifer, xiv Fry, John, 188–89 Gascoigne, Jessica, 200 Gates, Bill, 119, 160 and Khan Academy, 67 Gates (Bill & Melinda) Foundation, 82, 116, 120 General Assembly, 119–20 George Mason University, 30, 94, 126–27 George Washington University, 6, 8, 16, 105–6 Georgetown University, 49, 142–43, 144–45, 149 Center on Education and the Workforce, 129 Georgia Institute of Technology: Center for 21st Century Universities, 148 Gettysburg College, 31, 131 G.I Bill, 40 Goleman, Daniel, 155 Goodwin, Reiko, 23 Google, xiv, 73, 76, 187 employment at, 86, 89 Googlization of Everything (and Why We Should Worry), The (Vaidhyanathan), 22 Gora, Jo Ann M., 184–85 Goucher College: promotes study abroad, 190–91 grade inflation, 24 Grand Canyon University, 23 grants: as financial aid, x, 40–41 Griffith, Kelsey, 35–37, 39, 177 Guzman, Edgar, 111–12 Hallway, 173 Hamilton College, 156 Hampe, Stephen, 21 Hansen, Sarah, 198–99 Harvard Crimson, 22 Harvard University, xvii, 22, 24, 32, 57, 138, 165, 175 innovative technology at, 76–77 and online learning, 90, 170 Harvey Mudd College, 128 Health Iowa, 199 health sciences: educational credentials in, 10, 200 vocational education in, 203–4 Heller, Don, 39 Henderson, Bruce, 15–16 Hendricks, Lauren, 153 Hendrix College, 32 Hennessy, John, Hesel, Richard, 123 High Point University, 32–33, 34 high schools: declining number of graduates, 65 guidance counseling in, 79–80 Higher Education Act (1965), 40 higher education See education, higher Hoekstra, Mike, 132–33 Hollins University, 126 Hollywood Goes to High School (Bulman), 195 Homberger, Dominique, 19, 24 How to Be the Luckiest Person Alive (Altucher), 161 Hoxby, Caroline, 132 Hunt, James B., 140 Hurricane Katrina (2005), 197–98 Huttenlocher, Dan, 187–88 IBM, 155–56 Iger, Bob, income inequality: higher education and increase in, 167–68, 174 India: higher education in, 174–75 Indian Institute of Technology, Indiana University, 34, 150 Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 31 information technology: and higher education, xviii–xix, 72, 76 Innovative University, The (Christensen), xv, xviii, 67 instruction: co-op programs in, 192–93 high-impact practices in, 150, 189, 196 innovative technology in, 74–77, 95–96, 98–99, 115–16, 124, 177–80, 209 proposed restructuring of, 148–49, 177–80 and “teaching for the test,” 153–54 and teaching professional skills, 184–85, 192–93 Internet classes See online learning internships, 49, 116, 138, 144, 162, 210 abroad, 192–93 Israel Institute of Technology, 188 Italy: college drop-out rate in, xi Ithaca College, xvii iTunesU, 87–88 Jaimes, Jose, 110 Jarrett, Josh, 120 Jefferson College of Health Sciences, 126 job placement: by colleges, 157–59, 208 Jobs, Steve, 160 Johns Hopkins University, 13, 61, 90, 156 Jones, Fontella, 112 Kallay, Jeff, 32 Kantrowitz, Mark, 50, 182 Katz, Lawrence and Claudia Goldin: The Race Between Education and Technology, 168 Kay, Alan, 154 Kedem, Karen, 60 Kelly, Brian, 18 Kerman, Lucy, 189 Khan Academy: Gates and, 67 and online learning, 67–68, 87, 119, 173 Khan, Salman, 67, 87, 90 Kinser, Kevin, 120 Kirschner, Ann, 70–71 Klise, Heidi, 151 Knewton, 74–76 Koller, Daphne, 90 Kreuger, Alan, 131–32 Kuh, George, 150–51 Lafley, A G., 155–56 Laitinen, Amy, 118 Lasell College, 7–8 law schools: lawsuits against, 48–49 prestige of, 14–15, 18 Learning Catalytics, 76–77 learning, immersive, 184–85 LeBlanc, Paul, 11, 46–47, 115–16 Lehigh University, 12 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy: effect on university endowments, 56–57 Lehmkuhle, Stephen, 200–201 Lewin, Walter, 88 Lewis, Michael: Moneyball, 81 “life experience.” See prior learning experience LinkedIn, 119 Linscheid, Ellie, 200–201 Littky, Dennis, 162–63 Long Beach City College, 111–12 Long Island University, 108 Louis, Deborah, 24 Louisiana State University, 19, 24 Loyola College (Maryland), Luckey, Rhonda H., 31 Lukoff, Brian, 77 Lumina Foundation for Education, 140 Lundquist, Dan, 66 Lynn University: “Dialogues of Learning” program, 191–92 MacArthur Foundation: and educational credentials, 69 Mahbubani, Kishore: The New Asian Hemisphere, 66 majors See college majors Maldonado, Pedro, 162–63 market forces: higher education and, xviii, 22, 28 Marlboro College, 47 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 128, 143 and online learning, 87–90, 170 Mayo Clinic: partnership with University of Minnesota, 199–200 McElrath, Sean, 173 medical schools, 154–55 prestige of, 14, 18 Mesa, Arizona: higher education in, 4–5 Michigan State University, 39 middle class: higher education and growth of, x–xi, 162, 167 vocational education and the, 162–63 “Millennials,” 21, 31 as “digital natives,” 173 and online learning, 173–74 Miller, Haylie, 199 Moberly Area Community College, 164 Moneyball (Lewis), 81 Montgomery College, 105–6 Moody’s Investors Service: downgrades college bond-ratings, 33, 60, 66 Moses, Carl, 196 Mount Holyoke College: foreign students at, 65 Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 154–55 Muir, David, 146–47 Mumper, Michael, 168 Muwwakkil, Zakiya, 5–6 National Center for Academic Transformation, 178 National Conference on Undergraduate Research, 152 National Institutes of Health, 61 National Survey of Student Engagement, 150, 196 Naviance, 79–80, 176 Netflix, 73–74, 82 New American Foundation, 118 New Asian Hemisphere, The (Mahbubani), 66 New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability, 140 New Mexico State University, 14 New School of Architecture and Design, 110 New York City: need for science-engineering university in, 3, 187 New York Law School, 49 New York State: Attorney General investigates student-loan industry, 45–46 New York Times, 36–37, 38, 39, 87 New York University, 16, 47–48 No Child Left Behind, 139 Northeastern University: sponsors real-world internships, 192–93 Northern Virginia Community College, 124–25 Norvig, Peter, xiv and online learning, 86–87, 89–90, 93 Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Thaler and Sunstein), 81–82 nursing education, 61–64 Obama, Barack, 26, 36 on higher education, 70 Occupy Wall Street Movement, 4, 36, 167 Ohio Northern University: student-loans at, 35–37, 38 Ohio University, Olympic Games (London, 2012), 185 online learning, xiii–xiv, xx, 23, 55–56, 76, 77 accreditation and, 107–8, 120 American Council on Education and, 92, 208 at Arizona State University, 172 and Baumol’s cost disease, 96 business models and, 90 Carnegie Mellon and, xviii–xix, 95–96 and college admissions, 91 and competency-based education, 113–14 and corporate recruitment, 91–92 Coursera and, 90, 91–92, 182 educational credentials for, 69–70, 92–93, 107–8, 182 edX and, 90, 170 Harvard and, 90 hybrid model of, xv, xx, 100–101, 177–78, 182, 209 Khan Academy and, 67–68, 87, 119, 173 as lost revenue to colleges and universities, 108 low cost of, 69, 106–7, 177–78 massive open online courses (MOOCs), 89–92, 170, 208, 209 “Millennials” and, 173–74 MIT and, 87–90 Norvig and, 86–87, 89–90, 93 and peer-to-peer learning, 173, 178 for personal improvement, 119–20 and remedial courses, 92–93 replaces introductory lecture courses, 94–95, 100–101, 106–8 as revenue source, 90–91, 92, 107 Rollins College and, 177 Southern New Hampshire University and, 114–16 Stanford and, 86–87, 89, 90, 93, 177–78 StraighterLine.com and, 105–8, 117, 120 Thrun and, 86–90, 91, 93 University of Central Florida and, 97–99, 177 University of Manitoba and, 89 YouTube and, 119 Onshore Outsourcing, 163–64 Ostrow, Jim, 7–8 Oxford University, 166 Pace University, 201 Palmisano, Samuel, 155–56 Parent PLUS loans, 43 Paris, David, 140 PayPal, 160 PayScale.com: reports projected graduate earnings, 128–29, 131 Pell Grants, 40, 172 Pennsylvania State University, 131 Pew Research Center, 70–71, 169, 182 Phillips, Elizabeth, 76, 83 Pink, Daniel H.: A Whole New Mind, 154–55 Pitt, Richard, 143, 159 Plymouth State University, 134–36 Porterfield, Dan, 158 Portland State University: and community redevelopment, 193–94 and environmental sustainability, 194 Powell, Craig, 80–81 Prensky, Marc, 173 Princeton University, 128, 136 student-loans at, 38 prior learning experience: in competency-based education, 117–19, 120, 208 in vocational education, 164 privacy: data-mining and, 84–85, 127–28 Proano-Amaya, Stephen, 192 Procter & Gamble, 155–56 Pryor, John, 146 Qubein, Nido, 33 Quillen, Carol E., 158 Race Between Education and Technology, The (Katz and Goldin), 168 Radford University, 124–25 Raritan Valley Community College, xi–xii RateMyProfessors.com, 22–23, 149 Raymond, Jolia, 197 recession (2008): effect on colleges, 56–58, 62–63 socioeconomic effects, 65–66 Regier, Phil, 75 research: federal funding of in colleges and universities, 12–14, 60–61, 141 by undergraduates, 151–52, 183 Reyes, Tammy, 192 Rhodes College, 94 Rich, Allison, 190 Roberson, Brooke, 61–62 Roger Williams University: voctional education at, 163 Rollins College: and online learning, 177 Romano, Sam, 86–89 Ronkin, Bruce, 192–93 Ruggiero, Chuck, 163–64 Russo, Mike, 117–18 St Cloud State University, 16 St John’s College, 143 St Mary’s College (California): “Jan Term” program, 194–96 St Olaf College: graduate job-placement at, 158–59 Samms, Ian, 145 Sarah Lawrence College, 143 Saudi Arabia: higher education in, 174–75 Savannah College of Art and Design, 128 Sax, Tyler, 142–43 Scarborough, Elizabeth, 28–29 Schank, Roger: Teaching Minds, 148–49 Schilling, Hayden, 151–52 Schmader, Sam, 133–34, 135, 165 Schneider, Mark, 127, 135 Schuh, Sheryl, 113, 117 Schwartz, Jake, 120 Scott, Stephen, 63–64 Sexton, John, 47–48 Sharpe, Rebecca, 205–6 Siemens, George, 74, 85 SimpsonScarborough, 29 Skillshare, 119–20 Smarterer, xiv Smith, Burck, 106–8, 120 Smith, Scott, Smith, Steve, 79 Socratic Arts, 148 Sorber, Ken, 114 Southern New England School of Law, 15 Southern New Hampshire University, 6, 11, 46–47, 48, 144 competency-based education at, 116 as model for the future, 184 and online learning, 114–16 vocational education at, 163 Spellings, Margaret, 139, 141 Sperling, John, 171 Stafford loans, 42 Stanford University, xiv–xv, and online learning, 86–87, 89, 90, 93, 177–78 StartupDC, 166 Sterling Partners, 59, 72 Sterns, Peter, 126–27 Stetson University, 86 Stevens Institute of Technology, 12 Stony Brook University, 14 Stowe, Ariana, 196–97 StraighterLine.com: and online learning, 105–8, 117, 120 student housing: enhancements in, 30–31 private development of, 172 student loan debt: colleges and universities conceal, 37, 39 inadequate data on, 37–38 increase in, xvi–xvii, 34, 36, 41, 47, 50, 70, 106, 210–11 projected earnings and, 38–39, 50–51 socioeconomic effects of, xvii, 47–48, 51, 180 student loans: colleges and universities collude with banks on, 44–46 as complex process, 41–44 financial aid and, 35–36, 39, 46–47, 111, 175–76, 180–82, 210–11 New York Attorney General investigates industry, 45–46 at Ohio Northern, 35–37, 38 and “preferred lender” lists, 44–45 at Princeton, 38 students: and campus distractions, 21–22, 33–34 and campus jobs, 198–99 campus services for, 28, 30–34, 210 community involvement by, 189, 210 cost of recreation for, 28 data-mining of, 76, 78, 81–82, 84 evaluate faculty, 20–23, 209 expect personalized treatment, 10, 21, 23, 28 foreign in U.S., 64–65, 66 gap years by, 134, 165, 166, 180, 210 interaction with faculty, 149–52, 177–78, 196 mature in college, xiv, 71, 116, 121, 165, 168–69, 176, 197 out-of-state, 65 and peer-to-peer learning, 173, 178 recruitment of, 65–66, 78–81 seen as customers, xix, 5, 18, 19–34, 174 skip classes, 93–94 studies and projects abroad, 152–53, 190–91, 192–93, 195, 196, 210 transfer among colleges, xx, 105, 107–12, 124–25, 172, 182–83, 208 undergraduate research by, 151–52, 183 study abroad: as transformative experience, 152–53, 190–91, 192–93, 195–96 Sullivan, Teresa: pressured to resign, 55–56 support staff: increase in, 27–28 Susquehanna University: “central curriculum” at, 196–97 Taylor, Mark, 149 Teach for America, 158 teachers colleges: overdeveloped as universities, 15–16 Teaching Minds (Schank), 148–49 Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute, 74 technology, innovative: at Arizona State University, 74–76, 77, 83, 172–73 in college admissions, 78–81 in instruction, 74–77, 95–96, 98–99, 115–16, 124, 177–80, 209 and personalized education, 23, 74–78, 81–83, 175–80, 182–83, 209 TED Conferences, 87, 88, 90 Texas: opens new law schools, 15 Texas Tech University, 12 student recreation at, 28 Thaler, Richard H and Cass R Sunstein Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, 81–82 Thiel, Peter: questions usefulness of higher education, 160–61 Thille, Candace, 96 Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, 165, 173 Thrun, Sebastian, xiv–xv and online learning, 86–90, 91, 93 training, on-the-job See apprenticeships; vocational education tuition: decreased revenues from, 60 discounting and financial aid, 29, 57–58, 60, 66, 132, 181, 211 increases in, 16–17, 20, 27–30, 39–41, 122–23 Tulane University, 165 community service at, 197–98 Cowen Institute, 198 Turcotte, Beth, 185 Turney, Christopher, 193 Udacity, xv, 89, 91–92 Ungar, Sanford J., 190–91 Union College, 66 United States: declining education level in, xi Department of Education, 37, 59–60, 69, 136, 139–40 foreign students in, 64–65, 66 and worldwide educational rankings, x–xi, 17–18 universities See colleges and universities; education, higher University of Alabama, 59 student recreation at, 28 University of Arizona: out-of-state students at, 65 University of California at Berkeley, 27, 57, 62–63 University of California at Davis, 143 University of California at Los Angeles, 145–46 University of Central Florida, 14, 144 as model for the future, 184 and online learning, 97–99, 177 and student transfers, 109–10, 145 University of Delaware: foreign students at, 64 University of Florida, 109–10 University of Houston, 32 University of Iowa: campus jobs at, 198–99 University of Manitoba: and online learning, 89 University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts, 15 University of Memphis, 31 University of Michigan, 62–62, 90 University of Minnesota at Rochester: partnership with Mayo Clinic, 199–200 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 28, 61 University of North Texas, 12, 15, 179 innovative technology at, xv University of Oregon: out-of-state students at, 65 University of Pennsylvania, 51, 66, 85, 90, 131, 188 University of Phoenix, 23, 99, 171 University of Richmond, 94, 126 University of Rochester, University of Scranton: recruits out-of-state students, 65 University of South Carolina, 99 University of Texas at Austin, 45, 82, 131 “Reacting to the Past” program, 201–2 University of Toledo, 39 University of Toronto, University of Utah, 14 University of Vermont, 134, 136 University of Virginia, 22, 62–63, 90, 126 president pressured to resign, 55–56 University of Washington, 61, 90, 131 urban areas: higher education concentrated in, 166–67 U.S News & World Report: college rankings by, 13, 18, 20, 48–49, 129, 138–39, 141 Vaidhyanathan, Siva: The Googlization of Everything (and Why We Should Worry), 22 Valencia College, 144 as model for the future, 184 and student transfers, 109–10, 112, 145 Van Doren, Natasha and Mariah, 46–47 Vanderbilt University, 143, 159 Vedder, Richard, 8–9 Viewpoints Research Institute, 154 Villanova University, 43 Virginia: projected earnings of college graduates in, 125–27, 129, 131 Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech), 126 vocational education: as alternative to college, 162–64 college majors and, 7–8, 129–31, 144, 146 in health sciences, 203–204 and the middle class, 162–63 prior learning experience in, 164 at Roger Williams University, 163 at Southern New Hampshire University, 163 Volkonidina, Inessa, 108 Wake Early College of Health and Sciences, 203–4 Wake Forest University: career counseling at, 202–3 Wake Technical Community College, 61–64, 204 Ward, David, 140 Warren Wilson College, 143 Washington and Lee University, 126 Watters, Allen, 109 wealth: higher education as function of, xvii Welch, Jack, Wellman, Jane, 26–27, 29, 32 Western Carolina University, 15 Western Governors University: competency-based education at, 113–14, 116, 117, 120–21, 170 Westminster College, career counseling at, 204–5 White Office of Science and Technology Policy, 77 Whole New Mind, A (Pink), 154–55 Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs (Cappelli), 156–57 Wieman, Carl E., 77 Wiewel, Wim, 194 Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 167 Williams College, 131 Wimberley, Ronnie, 152–53 Wiseman, Eric C., 158 Wolfers, Justin, 51, 85 Worcester Polytechnic Institute: project-based curriculum at, 205–6 Yeary, Frank, 27 York College of Pennsylvania, 32 YouTube: and online learning, 119 Zuckerberg, Mark, 160 ... York, New York 10003 www.hmhbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available ISBN 97 8-0 -5 4 4-0 270 7-7 DOC 10 Some material in this book has appeared, in slightly different... One-Size-Fits-All Experience Eighteen years ago, just as the Internet was taking off, I graduated from Ithaca College, a traditional, residential college with 6,000 students (I didn’t have an e-mail... what a college education should consist of Even college students today can’t be described in a single way The people we think of as traditional college students, eighteen-to twentyfour-year-olds,