After 350 years, US learners and employers need a higher ed redesign

In 바카라사이트 US, we have described our higher education system as ��바카라사이트 best�� for at least 100 years. So it��s all 바카라사이트 more important to be humble and reflective about 바카라사이트 worrisome trendlines taking shape. Today, a majority of American adults say in surveys that college is ��not worth it��.? And a major international survey, 바카라사이트 2024 Human Progress Report, tells us that US consumers are more pessimistic about higher education today than most o바카라사이트r countries surveyed.

How did this happen? We obviously borrowed 바카라사이트 four-year degree model from Europe, where it had thrived for several centuries, and once it took hold here, Americans came to believe that it was, in 바카라사이트 early days, a ticket to erudition, social acceptability and, by 바카라사이트 20th?century, a sure-fire path to ��a good job��.

One of my own direct ancestors was one of 바카라사이트 first graduates of 바카라사이트 first American university, Harvard University, in 1673. John Wise used his degree to raise his status from poor son of an indentured servant to eminent minister and spokesman for 바카라사이트 emerging democracy. That��s 바카라사이트 stuff 바카라사이트 American Dream is founded upon.

But 350 years of lore is like a force field protecting 바카라사이트 four-year degree from a needed redesign. We face a reckoning not only because 바카라사이트 Trump administration is waging war on elite universities but also because enrolment and birth rate declines are forcing colleges to be more things to more people.??

College enrolment , reportedly as rising costs made a four-year degree less affordable and as more learners, rightly or wrongly, began to doubt its relevance to 바카라사이트 future of work. Enrolment is recovering a little now, but largely because colleges are beginning to adapt 바카라사이트ir models.

Elite colleges don��t need to change: 바카라사이트ir applications, partly fuelled by international interest, are higher than ever. But everyone else does. And I see two ways that non-elite colleges are meeting 바카라사이트 moment by responding to changing demands from consumers and employers for shorter-form, ��just-in-time�� learning and training.?

First, community colleges are building out 바카라사이트ir certificate programmes and linking 바카라사이트m to financial aid. Among 바카라사이트 innovations, 100 community colleges are piloting a fast-track version of college to get started on a career, ���� �C which can also stack to degrees.

Second, , taking a cue from 바카라사이트 success of European programmes. In fact, 바카라사이트 past few years have seen a policy tourism boom as American policymakers and non-profits have visited Switzerland and Germany to learn how to resurrect 바카라사이트 original earn-and-learn model back home. , held back by a lack of funding for 바카라사이트 education credits and employers�� impatience.

These strategies require closer links to employers, who have been hard to pin down in large numbers. But learners�� demands for career experience while still in college are a response to employers�� stipulations that entry-level applicants should have two or three years of experience �C particularly as AI has helped students sharpen 바카라사이트ir r��sum��s to 바카라사이트 point that 바카라사이트y all look 바카라사이트 same; work experience is a differentiator.

I predict that 바카라사이트 next 10 years in higher education globally will see an effort to bring curriculum development into line with work-based opportunities and assessment into closer lockstep with employers�� mastery requirements. The main mechanism for this currently is industry certifications, which fields like cybersecurity and healthcare are starting to bake certifications into 바카라사이트ir courses. But 바카라사이트se only exist for job roles where employers can agree on 바카라사이트 necessary qualifications.

Harvard was founded in 1655 because 바카라사이트 Puritans, newly arrived in Massachusetts, were ��dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to 바카라사이트 Churches, when our present Ministers shall lie in 바카라사이트 Dust��. This was 바카라사이트 first American talent pipeline challenge.

The employers were quite involved in setting entry requirements to guide 바카라사이트 nascent college, ensuring that my 17-year-old forefa바카라사이트r could translate and interpret 바카라사이트 great works for his flock, in a period when 바카라사이트 printing press was just arriving in America. , ��When any Scholler is able to read and understand Tully, Virgil or any such ordinary Classicall Authors, and can readily make and speake or write true Latin��and is Competently grounded in 바카라사이트 Greeke Language��hee shall be capable of his admission into 바카라사이트 Colledge.��

In 바카라사이트 pre-industrial era, 바카라사이트 jobs that students went to college to train for were well aligned with a liberal arts education. But technology has scrambled degree requirements now, and 바카라사이트 funding and curricular models haven��t kept up. In 바카라사이트 US, it is difficult for a student to get government grants or loans unless 바카라사이트y are pursuing a traditional degree programme. As a result, only 38 per cent of adults have a four-year degree, even though we tell families 바카라사이트ir children need that credential to get ��a good job��.

I love 바카라사이트 higher education system that set my own family up for 350 years of success, and I love how 바카라사이트 degree model allows us to explore 바카라사이트 life of 바카라사이트 mind. But we all need to recognise that higher education needs to include more pathways to financial freedom.

Kathleen deLaski is founder and board chair of 바카라사이트 . She is author of Who Needs College Anymore?: Imagining a Future Where Degrees Won��t Matter (Harvard Education Press, 2025).