Budget cuts, a skeptical public, uncertain enrollments, new competitors—higher education faces so many challenges these days, and isn’t known for responding nimbly. But the changing landscape could also offer new opportunities for colleges—to experiment with how students learn, find new ways to reach more-diverse students, and maybe even save money.
How can college leaders tell a passing trend from what’s important, while continuing to do their day-to-day jobs? Read The Trends Report, which describes 10 key shifts in higher education. You’ll find cutting-edge solutions being tried by other colleges, expert commentary, data, and more. Think of it as an essential road map to help navigate campus change.
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NewsSpotlight on retention: Students can’t graduate if they don’t return.
Predictive analytics help colleges keep students enrolled, but that doesn’t always mean they’re progressing toward degrees. -
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Career competence: Students need job guidance from Day 1.
Colleges need to think beyond the job fair to meet increasing expectations for work-force readiness. -
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Job Advice for New Grads: Be Flexible and Mind Your Manners
We ask corporate trainers: “If you could persuade colleges to do one more thing to prepare students for the workplace, what would it be?” -
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Board battles: Conditions are ripe for the rise of the rogue trustee.
Frustrated with the pace of change, some board members go it alone. -
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One Trustee’s View From the Trenches
To understand the challenges facing board members today, look no further than Penn State, Anthony Lubrano writes. -
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Social-media skirmishes: More colleges are deciding how—and whether— to regulate faculty speech
More colleges are deciding how — and whether— to regulate faculty speech. -
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At U. of Kansas, Social-Media Policy Leads to More Conflict
The angry reaction to a professor’s bitter tweet prompted the regents to try to limit employees’ online behavior. Now faculty members feel a chill. -
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Adjunct advocacy: Contingent faculty members are demanding—and getting—better working conditions.
Contingent faculty members are demanding — and getting — better working conditions. -
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A Shift in the Work Force
College administrators are starting to think differently about adjunct labor, a change that is evident in shifts in the academic work force. The share of college faculties employed on a part-time basis has begun to shrink everywhere but at doctoral institutions, according to a recent analysis of… -
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Team science: Research cooperation grows as federal money tightens.
Shrinking budgets are pushing university scientists to form partnerships beyond their own campuses. -
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Teaching revival: Fresh attention to the classroom may actually stick this time.
Fresh attention to the classroom may actually stick this time. -
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One University Takes Multiple Paths to Improve Teaching
When the leaders of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor envision the world their graduates will inherit, they see a future brimming with political, social, and environmental volatility. If students are going to succeed, they will need to be nimble—able to handle complexity and to reinvent… -
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Wooing millennials: Colleges are trying to cultivate young alums as future donors before it’s too late.
Many colleges are deciding that forging closer connections now is the best bet for the future. -
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Culture of change: Successful colleges can tell a passing trend from a true opportunity.
“You have to run your old business while you’re figuring out what your new business is,” says one expert. -
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An executive summary of The Trends Report: 10 key shifts in higher education
There’s no doubt higher education is under attack on many fronts these days. Public scrutiny is growing as politicians, parents, employers, and students question the value and relevance of a college degree. Budgets are tight and enrollments uncertain. Shifting demographics mean more poor and…
