Higher Education's return on investment

The perception that seeking and achieving a higher education degree pays off has driven enrollment for generations of U.S. and international students and resulted in the dramatic growth of colleges and universities in the 20th century. The return on investment was assumed with local, state, and federal government initially contributing a significant proportion of the cost and students/families picking up the remaining, and more recently growing, proportion of the expense.

Enter a time of demographic shifts that have resulted in U.S. institutions relying on surging international enrollment and attracting students from U.S. families who have previously not had the privilege of higher education opportunity and suddenly the return on investment question is front and center. One-third of students attending college today are immigrants or from recently immigrated families. But for these students the economic mobility pay off is delayed for at least 2 to 3 generations from the first family member who pursues a college degree. For students of color from immigrant family backgrounds, the pay off is even slower than for those who are white. The executive director of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education warned that these students "are driving enrollment growth" and that it is "in the business interests of higher education institutions, of communities and states, because immigrant-origin students are also helping to drive workforce development."

In the face of one research report indicating that one-quarter of current students regret the decision to go to college, it is critical that differential costs per student and by type of institution be addressed. With taking on debt a common and growing burden, regret has to be replaced by a clear path to ensure return on investment. A task force composed of representatives from 32 states is beginning to outline a plan to bring state and federal efforts together to address the ROI question. The focus of the National Conference of State Legislator's report is the first effort to address national higher education concerns since 2006. Education Department under secretary James Kvaal noted that policy conversations are often in isolation and that the NCSL initiative offers the opportunity to build consensus around "a system that is open to everyone who needs additional skills and credentials, is affordable, and gives everybody a fair opportunity to graduate and go on to a career of their choice."

Understanding immigration

The U.S. Presidential election is animated again by the controversy of immigration. I counted them and there were eight examples in the Harris v. Trump debate where Trump diverted the topic to immigration and how the influx of "others" is destroying our country.

The response to immigration fear-mongering includes declarations that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants and that immigrants are generally quite successful in pursuing their dreams and building a life in their adopted country. However, declaring transition to U.S. citizenship and seeking the American dream does little to quiet the opponents who, descended from immigrants themselves, believe that their welfare is being undermined by other immigrants seeking to take their place.

Steve Mintz of Inside Higher Education raised the question of how to portray the immigrant experience in a recent essay that may help. He used as one of his examples the Tenement Museum of New York City. I've been there and viewed the tiny apartments where families were crammed into small spaces yet made their way eventually to a better life. The images one gains are of resilience, persistence, and heroism. Portrayals such as these are not incorrect but allowing them to be used as justification for how immigrants have been treated over time and around the world today is inhumane. Even worse, demeaning immigrants as criminals and the worst of humanity, as Trump has done, goes beyond all limits of empathy and compassion.

As one of the U.S. sanctuary cities, Chicago, Illinois, has seen over 40,000 refugees and immigrants from Venezuela and elsewhere arrive seeking a new life. The documentary Desdo Cero: The Migrant Journey in Chicago is an excellent summary of what happened. The film candidly portrays both the strain and the accommodation of Chicago and surrounding suburbs as compassionate citizens attempted to help immigrants bussed to the area by Governor Abbott of Texas in a political stunt during the winter of 2024.

Related to understanding immigration from the U.S. southern border, over 1 million internationals are studying in the U.S. at present; perceptions and the reality of hostility toward them influences their decision making in a variety of ways. During the Trump presidential years, higher education struggled to maintain an image as a welcoming place for students who wanted to study in the U.S. We are back again to images and strategies that could influence if international students come to the U.S. for study and for practical training after receiving their degrees, a vital pipeline to advance research and innovation in the U.S.A.

As Parag Khanna so ably documented in Move, migration has been occurring for millennia and is accelerating in the modern age due to environmental, economic, political and other turmoil. Thinking carefully about how immigration is portrayed and how politicians, activists, educators, and others should respond is key if the U.S. and other countries around the world are to be able to quell the controversies that are tearing communities apart.

Activism on path to continue

I continued to visit questions about activism in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and the continuing war between Israel and Hamas over the last year. As campuses open for the 2024-25 academic year, activism on these two topics is likely to continue and may accelerate and spread to other issues. Although proposed as competencies that college presidents should possess in order to handle current campus dynamics, the ability to build trust, resilience, communications savvy, team building, emotional intelligence, courage, and resource management are likely to be helpful in managing protests and crises as well as be broadly applicable to daily campus management.

Communications management is essential when the waters are turbulent. With the inevitability of disturbances continuing, campus leaders should clearly communicate what qualifies as violations of policy, advocate for restrained freedom of expression, and should streamline bureaucracy by forming a small crisis team ready to go into action.

Interest in the U.S. Presidential election in academic circles rose to a new level when President Biden stepped aside to make way for VP Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party nominee. The American Council on Education took out a NYTimes ad to assert the value of higher education leading up to the national election. The stark contrast of possible Harris v. Trump presidencies has animated younger voters, a dynamic that may be a deciding factor in the election. The proportion of students in college who plan to vote surged after Harris replaced Biden at the top of the ticket with Harris leading Trump by a whopping 38 points. To counter the youth movement, voter suppression laws have been enacted in 27 states. Removal of on-campus voting at Purdue University sparked outrage across campus. A Student Voice survey indicated that 38% of students plan to vote and that institutions could accommodate this number or larger through a number of strategies.

Central to the difference is Trump's accusations about border security and what he declares as a failure of the Biden/Harris administration. Immigration is clearly a mobilization tactic among Trump supporters and campuses need to add to their list some way of portraying and educating students about immigration over history and in the present day. Opposing immigration is integral to white Christian Nationalism, a view that the U.S. is a refuge for white citizens who came to America to establish a Christian nation. By contrast, the United Methodist Church advocates the inclusive and compassionate mandate of Christianity and denounces political violence and authoritarianism.

Activism is dependent on campuses being able to create a culture of free expression. Heterodoxy in viewpoint, especially related to history that may include reprehensible moments, may need to be part of the mix. While recent reports indicate tensions about student speech, 70% of students indicate that they are comfortable in expressing their views. The American College Student Freedom, Progress, and Flourishing Study examined perceptions of viewpoint diversity, how college shapes students' learning, capitalism and socialism, and the Israel v. Hamas war. As an indicator that tolerance for different views is fragile, the report found that 71% support reporting professors for offensive comments and 56% support reporting fellow students, these percentages down only 3% from the previous assessment. PEN America noted encroachment through 29 legislative proposals designed to dismantle institutional autonomy, much of it focused on DEI or seeking to usurp control of curriculum from faculty.

Diversification in higher education is advocated by many in the general population, including 77% who believe that historically underrepresented groups should have access to study beyond high school. When this general sentiment is disaggregated, 91% of democrats and 62% of republicans agree. As conservative attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion have spread throughout the country, the links between diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and anti-immigrant rhetoric is clear. Discourse around these two issues feed into accusations that higher education is hostile to conservative points of view. The Heritage Foundation launched a new rating system to serve conservative students and families in selecting colleges "prioritizing freedom, opportunity and civil society." The rankings, using a green and red light signal as indication, placed New College of Florida at the top and Harvard at the bottom. The red light institutions presumably "exhibit a pervasive hostility toward diverse viewpoints and lack robust core curricular requirements." Unveiled divisive activism such as this are likely to drive students with different political perspectives even further down their rabbit holes.

Creating a climate that supports the free expression of diverse views is challenging, as demonstrated in this compilation of cases. Research conducted by FIRE documented increasing partisanship and difficulty in expressing opinions, specifically related to the Hamas v. Israel war. Differentiating activist speech v. deliberative dialogue may help to clarify the purposes and potential impact of approaching expression in different ways. Yale University's neutrality directive is an apparent attempt to reduce institutional statements that reflect partisan perspectives; although some view the statement as vague, supporters assert that the goal of neutrality will foster more deliberative conversation.

Preparing the campus through new student seminars, such as that of USC, could help. Professors at Harvard protested new policies against chalking and other expressive acts as inhibiting free expression. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that attacks "wokeness" in higher education. The act is likely to complicate free speech as well as make it more difficult to protect students from harassment, which is ironic in the face of Republicans threatening accreditation be revoked over accusations of anti-Semitism.

An October 7, 2024, collection of pictures from the previous year and essays reflected how tumultuous the past year has been. Educational leaders offered opinions that demonstrated that how to proceed is very unclear. Institutions have been damed if they do and if they don't in responding to protests that turned to demonstrations that led to accusations of tolerating both anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic sentiments. Citing tensions over DEI and the Hamas attack on Israel and its retaliation in Gaza and the West Bank, educational leaders expressed the need to free higher education from the tightening vice of partisanship. John Dewey's time-honored "admonition that threats to democracy are only successful when breeding hate, suspicion and intolerance becomes a substitute for 'giving differences a chance to show themselves'" may be more important now than ever.

Campus responses to observances of the October 7 1-year anniversary of the Hamas attack proved to be challenging. The University of Maryland chose to allow only University-sponsored events rather than risk what would happen if protest groups staged events to observe the anniversary. Maryland's decision was criticized for limiting pro-Palestinian expression as well as other forms of dissent. Maryland's approach was blocked by a Federal District Court ruling, a decision the University will follow even in the face of safety concerns that "remain a source of ongoing attention and focus." While honoring the court directive Maryland's Governor expressed that the pro-Palestinian demonstration was inappropriate.

The University of Michigan student government withheld student activities fee allocation in order to pressure the University to divest from support of Israel. The Michigan student organization funding was later restored even in the face of severe backlash from pro-Palestinian groups. This is a new strategy that could take hold at other campuses. If it does, it could become a new spark for pro-Israel groups to claim anti-Semitism as well as serve as fodder for criticizing the liberal take-over of institutions. Arrests at Michigan's activities fair, disruption of Pomona's opening convocation, the arrest of 3 protestors at the University of Chicago, and Temple University's suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine for disrupting a job fair are examples of the variety of ways campuses are experiencing protests. Two Columbia University demonstrators were arrested when they protested at the main gates to the campus and an pro-Israel assistant professor was barred from campus. Continuing to focus on divestment appears to be having little impact on most campuses. Brown University and Chapman University rejected divestment demands. However, the resignation of a Brown University board member over the prospect of a divestment vote demonstrates that in some cases, protest pressure works. Career fair disruption is another way to press divestment by pressuring companies with ties to Israel.

Higher education in Gaza has been effectively destroyed. Protests among Israeli universities demanding that the government negotiate for a cease fire and return of hostages has seriously impacted educational progress there as well.

Litigation accusing numerous institutions of tolerating anti-Semitism will be a focus in the media. Columbia University is particularly visible, especially after an internal task force report alleged "serious and pervasive problems." House Republicans used October 7, 2024, to remind institutions that they would be held accountable for not addressing anti-Semitism. The focus of these efforts is to draw attention to presumed illiberal progressivism that is asserted to have become dominant in higher education.

New York Governor Hochul called private and public university representatives together to prepare for the potential of continuing campus unrest. With New York centered due to the demonstrations at Columbia and the diversity of the state's population, it may become a bell-weather indicator for other state officials. There is much to be said for advanced preparation that focuses on deescalation at the same time that it maintains a commitment to free expression.

Vanderbilt's 2nd campus

Amidst the backdrop of colleges and universities establishing satellite campuses across the world, Vanderbilt University is set to establish a "2nd campus" in West Palm Beach. Innovation is the apparent focus, complementing the reputation of West Palm as the U.S. Wall Street South.

While the motivation of universities that establish international campuses might be compromised by financial benefit, a U.S. campus setting up shop in another state and doing it in a highly privileged area makes the priority clear. My guess is that the West Palm Beach 2nd campus is substantially about positioning the institution to tap into future economic benefit of alumni from privileged backgrounds. The academic focus might be a way to counter the privileging message of the Vanderbilt 2nd campus but, unless there is very aggressive diversification efforts, privileged students will be able to accelerate their privilege with a Vanderbilt degree and a focus on innovation.

U.S. study abroad numbers

One of the leading ways to attract students to various types of programs is word of mouth. Particularly related to U.S. students who might go abroad, there are both real and perceptual barriers that discourage increased numbers of students to pursue international opportunity. With the decline of studying abroad that occurred during the COVID pandemic, there are fewer students presently on campus who can speak in favor of and serve as role models for study abroad.

With the U.S. heavy influenced by isolationist political views and skepticism about higher education, study abroad is one of the few, and potentially most influential, strategies to bring experience-based reason back to international understanding. The study abroad ambassadors who are available may have declined but they are precious and should be given ample opportunity to talk about their experience. Without their advocacy, study abroad could decline to a privileged few much as it was in the early 20th century.

My experience and observation is that international learning can start at a very modest place but usually results in enough increased curiosity that students will go back for more. International educators need to find ways to start small if they must, but start somewhere to get students on an internationally aware path.

Qatar Foundation's Education City: Early capacity building for an education hub

The International Journal of Education Development (Volume 107, May, 2024) includes my reflections of living and working in Qatar as Education City was in the early phases of developing its higher education partnerships. "Qatar Foundation's Education City: Early capacity building for an education hub" includes background on Qatar and its purposes in establishing its knowledge and innovation hub, Education City. Recommendations for conditions that will improve success in hub initiatives include; "cultural learning and dexterity, critical examination of educational practices, building shared capacity, and agreeing to and measuring desired outcomes."

The International Higher Education journal of Boston University included articles about education hubs and posed questions about whether they will continue to expand or not. Long and Danvers (p.23) offer the opinion that the competing forces of isolationism versus neoliberalism seen throughout the world will complicate the potential of sustaining and growing more international education partnerships. While complicated, capacity building through higher education may also be used to enhance regional and international influence as suggested by Adam & Adam (International Higher Education, Number 120, Fall 2024, p. 22-23). Some closures are simply the result of flawed design and implementation as in the example of Harrisburg University in Pennsylvania, where it was more attributable to failed financing strategies. In the latter example, the Harrisonburg Dubai campus entered a saturated market of international campus ventures.

The prospect of closing U.S. higher education programs anywhere is a great loss to diplomatic opportunity. Pressures by conservative organizations that do not understand, or deliberately misinterpret, Qatar's role in the Middle East targeted Texas A&M in Qatar and were successful in convincing its Board to discontinue their agreement. The former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar asserted that Qatar's six U.S. university relationships "build respect and admiration for our country, and thus America's ability to shape the world in our interests." While the "soft power" advocated in this article might better be conceived as knowledge diplomacy, engagement that attends to mutual rather than self-interested benefit as described in my previous article, the defense of U.S. institutions partnering around the world is a view that I heartily endorse.

As the new academic year opened for Education City, President Francisco Marmolejo wrote of welcoming new students and reiterated the importance of points I made in the Journal of Education Development article. The lack of aspiring engineers among the new students resulting from Texas A&M's withdrawal from their agreement was noted as threatening education collaboration throughout the world. Education City, in Marmolejo's opinion, is important "because the great challenges facing us today, from climate change and disease to poverty and technological disruption, do not respect national borders. Without global collaboration in education and research we cannot effectively tackle these issues."

2024 Student Survey results

The latest Student Voice survey of college students indicates broad affirmation of the academic experience. With 46% saying it's good and another 27% saying it's excellent, some institutions can take solace in knowing that current students are fairing well. However, drilling down into the institutional differences indicates that students at private non-profit and northeastern institutions generally have a better experience than other regions. Students at community colleges also reported a slightly higher level of satisfaction with their experience. Not surprisingly, students from families with higher incomes and those whose family legacy includes pursuing college degrees rate their experiences higher than others.

Data interpreters say that students are judging the quality of their education experience primarily based on what happens in the classroom. However, students value feeling that they belong, which is especially important for students from minoritized backgrounds. The politicization of DEI work is clearly reflected in liberal leaning students advocating diversity education and conservative students seeing little value to it. Conversely, other students believe higher education institutions should hire more conservative faculty and focus on career preparation, among a number other things, according to reports from conservative students at the recent RNC convention.

Anthony Abraham Jack called attention to students' experience beyond the classroom in his book Class Divided. Reflecting on his own lived experience as well as the impact of the COVID pandemic, Jack determined that first generation and students from minoritized backgrounds faced greater challenges related to general welfare than more privileged students when campuses went virtual. He asserted that the idea of a protective "campus bubble" evaporated and actually never existed for many students. The Student Voice Survey confirmed that students from different cultural backgrounds, different ages, and across different institutions engage in extracurricular programs at very different levels and for different purposes.

A summary opinion reporting Gallup Poll data describes confidence in higher education as in a "nose dive" although international rankings still confirm the dominance of U.S. institutions in reputation. Recognizing that practical outcomes of community college programs that contribute to higher student confidence, enlightenment era goals of lifelong learning, preparation for meaningful careers and civic participation are critiqued as starry-eyed. Forbes offered 7 steps to restore confidence in higher education, including credit-producing internships, liaison to community organizations, and more specific career advising aligned with graduates' work placement.

The survey results provide advice to faculty about preferred modalities for learning and strategies that can improve student success. The highest level needs are to reduce the cost of education, get rid of onerous grading regimens, allow students more agency in pursuing their desired learning paths, and relate learning to local, regional and global communities.