As state and federal budgets get tighter there will be increased pressure to reduce funding from government and increased pressure from the populace to hold down tuition increases. Commentators will decry the work ethic of faculty, etc.
Before we begin this annual venting of the spleens it might be useful to consider what we demand from higher education and the money we spend on it. Here are some of the demands that come immediately to mind.
Employers what graduates to be trained in the latest technology and capable of stepping right into their careers without further training. Of course, the latest technology costs money and needs to be constantly updated.
Some students come to college looking for a lifestyle, others for an education. Some demand to never be challenged or required to do more than cut and past from Wikipedia, others look for the opposite. As classes get larger and student evaluations carry more weight we race to the bottom on the education front. (There will be more on this in the future.)
The community wants outreach to schools, convincing youngsters to go to college. The community wants entertainment in the form of concerts, plays, sporting events, etc. The community wants cutting edge research that transforms everything from farming to health care to society itself.
I am sure there are many other masters served by higher education, and feel free to add to the list, but before we start venting about costs might we ask which masters we should be serving. Following that we can ask which are getting served and which still have needs to be served.
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