A commonly heard refrain nowadays in the higher education (HE) community is that the enterprise is in grave turmoil and deep trouble. Let me state for the record that I do not believe the situation is that catastrophic.  In this blog, I will provide my rationale for this assertion.

Universities are essential parts of the rich fabric and tapestry of life that we have created ever since the advent of human civilization.  Whereas it began as the favored arena of the elites and royals, it has now become the place where commoners have the ability to participate in learned discourses about the civil and practical aspects of arts, humanities and sciences. In the United States, it was accepted since the early eighteenth century that university is a public good.  One only has to see the tremendous influence of land grant universities in this country.  It has been shown that 75 % of students get their higher education from public universities. Moreover, the majority (60 %) of research expenditures in the United States are also in public research universities.  The best and brightest from all over the world still aspire to get their advanced degrees from the U.S. universities.  Research output, measured in journal articles, citations and awards (e.g. Nobel prizes) still show that the U.S. outpaces other countries.  Innovation as measured by new ideas and start-ups is still led by the U.S.  The country also leads the world in the overall research and development expenditures, a significant portion of it (basic and applied research) is spent in the top 110 Tier 1 universities.  Federal investment in research is healthy, but well short of its peak during the second half of the twentieth century.

So, why do we hear that HE is fraying at its edges? There are severe problems constraining the HE system.  Perhaps the most significant ones are questions of student access at major public and private universities due to selective and limited admissions policies, affordability because of continuous increase in tuition and fees, poor outcomes (graduation rates, student debt) and inadequate skills and professional preparations imparted to students for jobs in the 21^st century economy. There are several other issues that are also of concern. We have a very large cohort of enterprising faculty that are aging and ready to retire, while the young faculty that replace them are held back due to low pay-scales, weak retirement benefits and lack of research dollars and infrastructure to conduct research. There are also challenges to the academic freedom environment that scare faculty from taking on controversial topics of research.

Despite the above-mentioned drawbacks and inadequacies, the U.S. HE system is still the best that most other nations are trying to emulate.  We still produce the largest world share of journal articles, the most number of innovations and discoveries, the largest share of Nobel prizes and high quality students at both the undergraduate and graduate level.  We can do all this because of the non-interference of the government in the HE enterprise that allows for creativity to flourish.  The competitive spirit that is encouraged in our HE institutions and the blue-sky thinking (academic freedom) prevalent among researchers contribute to the high productivity that is our hallmark. Most of our HE institutions consider enhancing the economic and cultural prosperity of the society as their primary mission.  These environments are not available elsewhere in the world and, as such, our HE system is unique.  For the foreseeable future, I cannot see this changing.  Even with all the challenges and vicissitudes that we see, our HE system will endure for many more decades to come. I do not see the catastrophic atrophy that are predicted by some for the HE system in general.