Colleges and universities are in trouble. Enrollment is declining; demographics show fewer traditional-age students in the pipeline, and changing attitudes about higher education threaten to derail the idea that college is needed for a good career.
What to do? Build, apparently. This trend has been unfolding for decades, but for some reason, schools seem to be responding with new dorms and gyms. This even though fewer future students may be coming to campus in person.
Maybe the new buildings are needed, but after three decades of silent partnership with higher education, in which I work with my career-transitioning clients to identify whether more training is needed and what it might be, I have to ask:
Schools, what are you thinking?
You’ve had time to figure this out, and for the most part, you’re still acting as if any student who isn’t coming straight from high school is a nuisance.
