ABSTRACT
American higher education has reached an important juncture in its history. Government offi cials, policymakers, corporate America, and the media are calling for changes in the way higher education operates and questioning its purpose and mission. Nevertheless, a careful examination of the issues portends good news as well as concerns. On the positive side, student interest and demand for higher education opportunities continue to grow due to a number of factors, including an American culture that values education and encourages young people to stay in school and attain as much academically as well as the knowledge that lifetime earnings for college graduates substantially outpace those without a degree. According to the Pew Research Center (2014), the earnings gap between young adults with and without bachelor’s degrees has stretched to its widest level in forty-eight years. Young adults with just a high-school diploma earned 62 percent of the typical salary of college graduates, down from 81 percent in 1965, the earliest year for which comparable data are available. The result is that the overall trend in enrollments in degree-granting postsecondary institutions continues to increase with projections by the U.S. Department of Education indicating an increase from approximately 19 million students in 2014 to 24 million by 2022 (Hussar & Bailey, 2013). The percentage of secondary school graduates enrolling in college is also at an all-time high. The Center for Public Education (2014) estimated that 88 percent of high school graduates will enroll in college by age 26. World rankings of colleges and universities consistently have American institutions leading all other countries. In 2014, The (British) Times rankings had American colleges and universities occupying 74 of the top 200 spots. It is no wonder that in a 2014 survey of college leaders, two-thirds of public institution presidents think that higher education is headed in the right direction, as do well over half of their private campus peers (Selingo, 2014).
