I’m not sure there is a defining point, but over time, higher education has become more of a commodity than a service to the individual, the community and the country. Even the language used today reflects that change. Colleges and universities speak of the “demographic cliff” and worry about future enrollments. They have spent millions on marketing, recruitment and chasing amenities that they are told through marketing firms will render their campuses more attractive to prospective students. The average cost today to land a student on campus in the United States is $2,849, according to Search Influence. Many institutions are now spending about 10 percent of gross revenue on outreach to convince prospective students to enroll with them. Overall, higher education spends between $1.5 billion and $2 billion yearly to market and advertise their programs. With overcapacity at the undergraduate and graduate levels, schools increasingly push the envelope in marketing, with enticements such as significant tuition discounting for less selective schools and, now, among more selective institutions, especially if they hope to attract the most promising students.
Schools are increasingly sensitive to the debt issue and the monetary value of their degrees and make a point of noting the skills aspect of a college education—especially in areas, such as liberal arts, where students and their parents who often foot the bill wonder where the value proposition is in, say, a degree in history, art, or English, unless it is essentially the foundation for future professional education.
At the graduate level, Masterportal estimates that students have 39,000 master’s degrees to choose from. Many are online, and enrollment is virtually guaranteed for most of them, assuming one can pay the tuition. Why so many? Because many schools see master’s degree programs as cash cows that enhance their tenuous coffers. This is especially the case with online degrees that use a disproportionate number of adjunct professors who are paid a flat fee per class. It’s a bargain for the school, as no fringe benefits are incurred and adjuncts can teach at a fraction of the cost of full-time faculty.
From a market perspective, the question arises: Is the proliferation of master’s degrees a function of demand? Or has the supply fostered greater demand? While at the undergraduate level, schools have always touted the value of the degrees they offer, whether at the two-year or four-year level, value was seen in terms of both skills and the broader construct of being a well-rounded person with a broader perspective on life, civic responsibility, and the like.
With most of the master’s level degrees, any pretense of value beyond rendering the prospective students more salable in the workforce is often dispensed with entirely. This extends to non-degree executive education as well, with elite institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, and MIT offering a wide range of “career-enhancing” programs.
The good news is that we are seeing something of a market correction to both the proliferation of degrees and the number of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The high cost of college and the encroachment of artificial intelligence on many white-collar positions and the professions of, e.g., computer programming, law, medicine, and research analysis, resulting in fewer entry-level positions, are also factors. Even the notion that a college education carries with it a certain level of social status is questioned, especially as skilled labor such as electrical work, carpentry, plumbing, and heating/AC installation and repair offer attractive salaries from the onset, no college debt, and opportunities for career development, including starting their own businesses and the prospect of material prosperity.
Around the country, many businesses, as well as state governments, are rolling back degree requirements for certain positions and focusing on demonstrated competencies rather than certificates or diplomas. On-the-job learning, with internships and apprenticeships, is becoming more commonplace, and the job market is, with fits and starts, trying to find its way as workplace demands are changing at blinding speed.
Let us hope that institutions of higher education will adjust to changes not only in the workplace but also in the condition of American civic life. That means they won’t overreact to pressure to become a commodified job preparation factory. New generations of workers, whether skilled tradespeople or surgeons and corporate lawyers, are also citizens. They will benefit, as will our communities and country, if our colleges and universities foster among their students a better understanding of, and appreciation for, our democracy, its history, the responsibilities of citizenship, and what America should aspire to be in a world where era-defining issues, from the exploration of space and the seas to climate change and the responsible stewardship of natural resources, are impervious to national boundaries. It is a role for which higher education is particularly well-suited.