Questioning the Value of a Bachelor’s Degree

A Gallup poll recently reported a steep decline in the nation’s confidence in higher education—down to 36% from 57% in 2015.ⁱ Paul Tough of the New York Times Magazine reported in his article, “Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College. Whose Fault is That?” that half of the parents he interviewed preferred their children not attend a four-year college”.ⁱⁱ

With declining revenues, coupled with expenses trending in the opposite direction, leadership at four-year higher education institutions is keeping a close watch on enrollment. In the 1970s, college attendance began to rise, reaching its peak in 2010 from ~7.4 million to ~21 million, before enrollment began to level off.ⁱⁱⁱ A steady decline in enrollment began to unfold; various standard indicators such as inflation, the rise in goods/services and job reductions were being blamed. Also, more serious conversations about edging closer toward the “demographic cliff”^iv began to surface.

To combat the downward spiral and remain sustainable, partnerships among institutions and private industry have been emerging, such as joint ventures, purchasing consortiums and even large-scale mergers and acquisitions. These innovative approaches were needed because only the schools above the 10,000-student level have realized a positive gain in enrollment in the past decade.^v Beyond the economic indicators, demographic cliffs and M & A activity, the discussion looms about whether the college experience still holds value.

Higher Education: Privilege or Right?

The basic concept that escapes complete agreement is whether a post-secondary education in the U.S. is a privilege or a right. According to the European charity, Right to Education Initiative (RTE), education is a human right protected under the law and is supported by the United Nations and other international treaties.^vi Therefore, 22+/- nations around the world hold true to this right by providing some form of free tuition for those who wish to attend college.^vii Many of these countries are labeled as democratic socialist states, where education and health care, for example, are considered an essential basic right. The less popular theory combines these—where higher education is both a right (to apply) and a privilege (to be accepted). Whether it is a right or a privilege, institutions still require sustainable funding either through government support, donors or tuition revenue. The foundational question regarding the value of a college degree is the cost to attend. In this country, some states are experimenting with free tuition, but mostly at the community college level; however, building a financial model to support it has been the challenge.

The cost of obtaining a college degree today remains out of reach for most unless there is some financial assistance available. According to the private research group, Education Data Initiative (EDI), some type of financial aid is utilized by 92% of the student population to cover college education costs. EDI maps out [Exhibit 1] the steep climb of the average cost for tuition and fees since the mid-1980’s.^viii

Exhibit 1

The Future of Higher Education

A stark reality of higher education sticker shock is looking back over the last 40 years and discovering that the cost of tuition went from an average of $11,840 in 1981-82 to $30,031 in 2021-22—a whopping 153% increase.^ix

The American Council on Education’s (ACE) latest data revealed over half of the nation’s college and university presidents were considering departing from their positions within the next five years. A quarter of them stated they would be gone sooner rather than later. A central reason is the inability to align with their trustees, who have shed their role as guardians of the campus mission and financial soundness to engage more in  institutions’ daily management. The result has been a revolving door within leadership, leaving the students, faculty and staff without direction and a sense of unity. Open divisiveness among institutional factions mirrors our country’s current political state and lessens the confidence that a college degree automatically translates to success.^x

Higher education’s value has been under attack because of the perception that the industry has taken too long to wake up to change. In fact, in a 2012 PEW Research Center Study, 39% said that by the year 2020, not much will have changed in higher education, according to Macalester College’s president emeritus, Brian Rosenberg.^xi

Perhaps the biggest threat to higher education comes from technology; industry giant, Google, is foregoing a bachelor’s degree as a minimum requirement for many of its jobs. The U.S. Government soon followed with a similar change for many of its IT positions.^xii This trend begins to evolve into a consumer-oriented mindset that the time and effort needed to earn a college degree may no longer hold value. It also clashes with a classroom teaching model that has been in place and embraced by the four-year academic community for ages.^xiii

On the other hand, the community college system is less hampered with tenured faculty and legacy program curriculum, allowing for a more realistic and efficient path toward a student’s success. The added bonus is that the existing gap in technology vacancies within the job market has begun to shrink. But the true value of the community college culture is that a trades and technology academic platform can co-exist with an equally successful liberal arts learning direction. As more liberal arts programs are cut from four-year institutions for fiscal savings, community colleges experienced a 4.3% increase in awarding liberal arts degrees from 1987 – 2018.^xix There has been a push at many community colleges to reengage the student to proper discourse in a world where political divide and social unrest sits on their doorstep. Anne Arundel Community College in Annapolis, Maryland, developed a Center for Liberal Arts Works (CLAW). One of the projects was a partnership with St. John’s College (also located in Annapolis, MD) through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to help transition the liberal arts student from an Associate’s program to a Bachelor’s program.^xv

The question now for higher education in the U.S.  is whether the innovation that so many went through to help recover from the pandemic will remain. The fear is that the tireless efforts to keep college doors open will dissolve back into the old standards. Those who couldn’t keep up with the new direction in higher education during the pandemic simply retired. The ones who remained were willing to do whatever it took to keep the college intact. Yet, the worry is that discussions surrounding lessons learned and what it took to stay open, are not as prevalent on campus, so says Brian Rosenberg in an essay for the Chronicle of Higher Education. ^xvi

One thing is certain, no longer is there the mystic of what goes on within the once impenetrable ivory tower of higher education. Transparency rules the day, and everyone is watching to see if the value of a bachelor’s degree is what it’s cracked up to be.^xvii