For the past several decades it’s been pretty well assumed that if a young person has decent grades and comes from a family that can afford tuition, they will go on to university or college. As we drift deeper into the 21st century, however, it’s becoming less and less clear why folks who aren’t studying to become specialists (doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.) would bother going to university for a general arts degree. If universities want to reduce the churn rate in their student population, they need to figure out how to stay relevant and market to a new generation.
In this post, we’ll look at some of the reasons that university applications have fallen off and what post-secondary institutions might do to bounce back.
The Economics of Tuition
First and foremost, one big issue is the simple economics of it. In Canada, annual tuition is about 6.5k on average. A state university in America is about 10k for state residents, and private colleges are about 35k. In the 20th century, when job security and fat pensions were common, this may have been possible to swing, but putting down $35,000 a year for tuition in our current economy/ job market is something that only the rich can afford.
For everyone else, it makes much more sense to dive right into the job market or apply to any number of unpaid internships. Some would argue that unpaid internships are unreasonable, a disguised form of indenture. In reality, however, if you’re going to be indentured, staggering student debt is much worse than simply not making money. In today’s job market (barring specialization), it’s better to take a year to gain firsthand experience rather than take four to rack up debt and have no real-world experience.
Selling School
While reducing tuition fees might mean cutting corners and reducing salaries, universities may need to make some cuts if people are reasonably going to pay to study there in coming years. Additionally, programs geared towards tangible job skills should help draw in students in – cutting back the philosophy department and developing science and computer programming, for example, may be necessary.
Good old-fashioned advertising should help, especially if a college is rebranded with the help of professional graphic design services to reflect a pivot towards practical skills and cutting-edge digital resources. Many universities are seen as stuffy old institutions bent on maintaining the status quo – not a great look in our current cultural paradigm.
Final Thoughts
Everyone has different aspirations, budgets, learning styles and so forth. It’s up to you to figure out if a post-graduate degree is worth your time and money. A career in academia is not as easy to obtain as it once was, and getting your feet wet in the bustling, competitive gig economy of the current era is a hard knock process that takes some getting used to. Hopefully, educational institutions can adapt to fit the current economy, and the current cultural mood, otherwise, they may become obsolete.
