Hope and Reform, Higher Education’s Next Decade (Sponsor Letter)

Jeff Frederick, Ph.D., President, Drury University

Much ink has been spilt in recent years over the future demise of higher education, a sector of our economy and society that I admittedly remain bullish on based on my experiences and my work leading Drury University. To be sure, higher education has been slow to recognize some of its own intractability and some of our colleagues at comparatively ivy-covered institutions have not covered themselves in glory with some of their public pronouncements and actions. While I concur with those that note that a college experience need not be for everyone, it remains true that compared to those without a college degree, those with one have a statistically greater likelihood of having health insurance, live seven or more years longer, have lower rates of chronic diseases, are five or more times less likely to be incarcerated, are more likely to be active in their communities, less likely to be divorced, report greater job satisfaction, and make more money. That’s a pretty fair value proposition without even addressing concepts like the Common Good, civic responsibility, and the university research culture that creates knowledge and application advances that improve our lives and impact our nation.

So what is working and how does higher education reform itself in areas where change is needed? Access and affordability measures like the GI Bill and Pell Grant are longstanding trends that have made a college degree approachable to a wider swath of the country. These programs link directly to social mobility, workforce development, and American innovation. They need to be protected and expanded, but with clearer outcome studies that show the length and breadth of their reach. And while the “sticker price” for college continues to rise, the net price students actually pay has decreased in the last five years. That may not continue interminably, but it is opening more doors and leading to slight declines in some recent year-over-year studies of the percent of students taking on debt.

In an information and skills-based economy, students need to be able to show what they can do. To that end, Drury created a skills transcript so that our graduates can show the specific market-based skills they have developed as a Panther. I can think of no better word to describe future workforce needs than adaptability. Can your employees add utility and grow into leadership roles over time? Given the pace of change, so many vocations, occupations, and professions are evolving so quickly. We have to provide students a range of learning options, styles, practical experiences, and content so that as many people as possible can gain function and expertise in emerging areas over time. In constantly changing times, learning how to learn might be the hardiest skill of all.

Moving forward and when possible, universities should also return to more of a one-student-at-a-time approach, reminding people that old-fashioned life skills like civil discussion, working in small groups and across disciplines, practical problem solving, and direct accountability last a lifetime. With high reports of loneliness, social media saturation, and many of a certain age seeking to hide in plain sight, this approach, like at Drury, is more important than ever. I recently spoke to a regional conclave of student affairs professionals who program spaces on campuses across the Midwest and upper South. I challenged them to intentionally create events and spaces that facilitate informal small group conversations—a critical life skill for people in every family, neighborhood, community, and profession. When we learn to talk to each other, we open a world of possibilities even as we model the behavior that after college makes us successful in interacting with co-workers, customers, suppliers, students, and everyone else.

Higher education is far from perfect but comes with individual and collective benefits that last a lifetime. A college experience has never been more important because the recipe for a world that increasingly tells people to get theirs while stepping over anyone that gets in their way is a heaping helping of relational and conversational engagement. Universities are already pretty good at that and it often starts when someone, a faculty member, a staff person, a coach, even a college president, helps you toward your adaptable future through the first step of knowing your name.

—Jeff Frederick, Ph.D.
President, Drury University