Collapse of Higher-Ed Bubble Draws Near - Jack McHugh, Mackinac

With a surplus of middle-tier state universities offering four-year degrees whose value is coming under increasing scrutiny by students and families, Michigan is ripe for a revolution described by an article in the current American Interest online, “The End of the University as We Know It” by Nathan Harden. If it hasn’t already, this broad overview of a higher education system on the cusp of a transformation brought about by online learning should be sending chills up the spines of high-paid university presidents and their legions of administrators. “The higher-ed business is in for a lot of pain as a new era of creative destruction produces a merciless shakeout of those institutions that adapt and prosper from those that stall and die,” writes Harden. “Meanwhile, students themselves are in for a golden age, characterized by near-universal access to the highest quality teaching and scholarship at a minimal cost.” http://www.mackinac.org/18165