A newsletter on “What a Tech Company’s Big Shift Portends for the Future of the Master’s Degree” was another standout. I’m not surprised — it was one of several this year dealing with colleges facing faltering enrollments. Declines in undergraduate enrollments have been a dominant theme this year (see, for example, this piece and this one and this one). And the latest stats on fall-2019 enrollment from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center only reinforce that trend.
For the many colleges that have turned to the master’s-degree market to help make up for revenue shortfalls in their undergrad programs, it was no doubt unsettling to read that interest in traditional graduate programs might be softening too. Sorry about that, but please don’t blame the messenger. Rather, as the experts at Eduventures and EAB I quoted in that piece suggested, colleges would be wise to start thinking about reshaping some of their existing master’s degrees into a portfolio of options of varying lengths, prices, and formats.
It’s worth noting that at least two other enrollment-focused newsletters also cracked our top-10 lists. One was “Your Niche Is Not Enough,” with its reminder that an institution’s market niche “does not trump the fundamentals of sound business practices,” by my pinch-hitting colleague Scott Carlson. The other was mine, based largely on an interview with Purdue University’s president, Mitch Daniels; but it led off with the news that “Purdue Global’s Growth Is Slower Than Expected.” Hard to know whether it’s fear or schadenfreude behind that interest (or maybe a little of both). But no one can say you can’t handle the truth.
I enjoyed seeing the results of this exercise (I confess, I stole the idea from my Chronicle colleagues who produce the weekly Teaching newsletter, who will be doing a similar exercise later this week). I also found it gratifying that newsletters on a range of other topics rose to your attention, among them higher-education leaders’ concerns over outsourcing, the evolving role of the ACT organization, the role of colleges in responding to the nation’s economic divides, and a couple of others on innovative models, by me and by Scott.
But I’ll admit that I was disappointed that at least one other issue didn’t make the cut. That was the newsletter on the Volcker Alliance’s effort to enlist colleges in getting more of their graduates to work for state and local governments. As I wrote in that piece, it’s an uphill battle for sure. But it’s also a vital one, especially for anyone who cares about, you know, the future of our democracy. By chance (or fate?), on Tuesday I received an email from the spokeswoman for Lead for America, an organization that provides paid fellowships to recent college graduates to work in local governments and community-based organizations.
“We’re trying to make the public sector sexy,” Caroline Ryskiewich said, and she appreciated knowing that the organization had allies in the field. Good timing for my mood too — and a good reminder for me that clicks aren’t the only measure of what’s making a difference out there.
Quote of the week.
“Conceptual and statistical gibberish.”
— Debbie Cochrane
Cochrane, executive vice president at the Institute for College Access and Success, in a tweet reacting to the approach the U.S. Department of Education plans to use to provide debt relief to students defrauded by their colleges. She calls her tweets personal, but Ticas, among many other groups, has criticized the plan as well.
Let’s talk books.
I love passing along suggestions for books that aren’t about higher ed but might be thought-provoking (or even annoying) to folks in the sector. If you’ve got any, please send them my way — and tell me why. This week I’ll share two, courtesy of Dean Chang, associate vice president for innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland at College Park.
I met Chang when he took part in a Chronicle conversation about the challenges of making change in higher ed. I also interviewed him for this quick video. Books came up when he mentioned the thinking behind Michael Schrage’s 1999 Serious Play. Chang confessed that he hadn’t actually read the whole book but admired one of its lines: “You can’t be a serious innovator unless and until you are ready, willing, and able to seriously play. Serious Play is not an oxymoron; it is the essence of innovation.”
His other book suggestion, which he says he’s “read multiple times and recommended to everyone,” is the newer How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World, by Steven Johnson. The book covers the history of refrigeration, clocks, and other inventions, and as Chang put it, “conveys the wonder and serendipity of innovation through rich stories about how some of our modern-day marvels came to be.”
Holiday wishes.
I’ll be giving The Edge a break over the holiday season as I turn to spending time with friends, cleaning up the disaster that is my desk, and figuring out how to make some yummy and healthy dishes in the new InstaPot I just bought for myself (suggestions welcome for easy-to-execute recipes). To those of you who sent holiday cards: thanks (h/t to the folks at the University of California at Riverside whose missive included instructions on making the “UCR Signature Citrus Cocktail” — bourbon or vodka optional).
When we launched The Edge 18 months ago, we did so hoping it would become a vehicle for a continuing conversation — between readers and us, and in your own circles — about the people and ideas changing higher ed. I hope I’ve done my part to stimulate those discussions. If you’ve been enjoying this newsletter, please spread the word. And as we all take a breath and look to the 2020s, please know how much I value your interest and your input. I couldn’t do it without all of you.
The newsletter will be back in your inbox on January 8, 2020. Until then: Cheers!
Got a tip you’d like to share or a question you’d like me to answer? Let me know, at goldie@chronicle.com. If you want to follow me on Twitter, @GoldieStandard is my handle.