Sept. 30, 2021 3:25p
(WGTD)---A new book on the future of higher education is sounding alarm bells in the offices of some university chancellors and college presidents.
Arthur Levine, a former president of the Teachers College at Columbia University, is a co-author of the book “The Great Upheaval: Higher Education’s Past, President and Uncertain Future.”
The book says the pandemic hastened what it views as inevitable trends in the digital age. While enrollment in brick and mortar schools have dropped, institutions that specialize in offering online programs have grown more popular since the pandemic hit.
Speaking on WGTD’s Morning Show last week, Levine said student calls for greater flexibility and lower prices are getting louder while the pool of potential students is shrinking with the lower birth rate. Levine doesn’t take issue with students' demands, but he does say the individualized learning approach can go too far, in that in can take away from certain things that all of us need to know and understand. "We've got to make sure that we have a generation that understands our history. That understands we live on a common planet. That understands the difference between truth and lies. That understands moral issues. That understands how our social institutions work," Levine said. "We need this as a democratic society," he said.
Levine argues that all institutions of higher learning need to take a close look in the mirror and consider taking bold steps to avoid extinction. Some experts have warned that 40% of the country's higher education institutions might disappear over the next decade. Levine doesn't buy into the forecast, but he does say that he believes that community colleges and regional universities are the most endangered.
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