Contrarian Viewpoint: The Demise of Higher Education is Greatly Exaggerated (Although Many Institutions Will Fold Along the Way)

 

I see this opinion a lot among my friends and online, which is that universities are archaic and will die out in number and relevance. To be sure, the sector faces some major tumult: demographic bust (i.e. far fewer 18-22 year olds), so many other ways to gain knowledge and forge networks, rising tuitions combined with greater uncertainty as to whether paying those tuitions will guarantee you a job after, and (at least for now) a president and base of supporters that is ambivalent if not antagonistic about the most prestigious among such institutions.

Here's the thing about humanity in a liberal economy and democratic government: tumult plus demand equals innovation, which leads to survival, adaption, and thriving. Many institutions will not make it, nor should they if they fail to add value to their students, stakeholders, communities, and society. But many other institutions will recognize the market opportunity and boldly adjust their offerings, space, and very ethos to seize it.

The thing is, and perhaps this is wishful thinking on my part rather than a prediction of how the future will actually play out, a university campus is the ideal setting for the kind of activity that humans need to flourish and dare I say survive as a species. No matter how digital our interface becomes and how good AI is at replacing much of our doing and thinking, three important things happen when really bright and really different people come together in a setting in which acceptance is the norm and growth is the goal:

1. We come to learn about and more deeply accept those who are different from us, so that we are better people and more informed advocates when our new colleagues are faced with hate

2. Cultural expressions flourish, both that which comes from our home culture and that which is created amongst us as its own new culture reflecting contemporary values and desires

3. Scientific advancement and business innovation occur when people from different disciplines and walks of life explore the edges of their knowledge and emerge with new insights

My hypothesis is that humanity is hungry for all three of these outcomes. If college campuses are where they happen, they will continue to attract producers, consumers, and investors until the end of time. It may look very different than today in physical layout and business model. There may be many seemingly unassailable institutions that totter and then crumble. And so every institution must be vigilant, entrepreneurial, and lucky. I predict that those that make it will continue to be just as if not more culturally impactful as now.