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.

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.

A summary opinion reporting Gallup Poll data describes confidence in higher education as in a "nose dive." 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.

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.

Making a difference in sustainability and social mobility

Two of the most important topics of this age are sustainability and social mobility. In the face of international criticism of higher education among conservatives and authoritarians, these two issues may be the ground upon which credibility can be recaptured and built.

The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an important international measure that some institutions track in order to demonstrate their environmental impact. Arizona State University's SDG domination over the last 5 years as the top U.S. university is impressive. However, one might ask why U.S. institutions in general are declining in their SDG fulfillment and why more are not tracking their contribution. Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer for THE asked, "Given the breadth, depth and resources of higher education in the country, and their global leadership in university research, we expected to see more American institutions come forward and demonstrate their commitment to supporting a sustainable future..." As an institution with multiple programs in areas outside of the U.S., Carnegie Mellon University is a significant example of incorporating the SDGs to document its impact.

Social mobility is important both as a U.S. domestic issue but it is increasingly a concern at a global level. U.S. institutions are ranked in their effectiveness in promoting social and economic mobility with a particular focus on the pay-off for students from minoritized or lower-resourced economic backgrounds. The problem is balancing the internal U.S. national social mobility in the face of mass immigration across the world. This graphic confirms that the U.S. is one of the countries with the highest immigration and that its share has been growing. However, the U.S. is not a stand-out in comparison to most of the leading economic centers of the world.

As anti-university political movements gain momentum immigration will likely be a flash-point. Countries with high levels of in-migration will need to demonstrate that immigration is a plus rather than a minus. It begins to be a plus when immigration turns into positive social and economic mobility. This is the "American Dream" of which generations have spoken; taking it seriously is key to political healing as well as the welfare of all.

2024-25 Enrollment predictions

It's time to start looking at the prospects of 2024-25 enrollment on campuses. I will add to this post as information emerges. Two major keys to robust enrollment are retention (which everyone knows) and the other is capturing those who have stopped out. Students who transfer or stop out have special issues that institutions must address. Looking back at stop out figures from 2020 forward, the available number of adults who attended college but did not receive a degree is 36.8 million. The stop-out possibilities include lots of transfers, which is becoming easier in places like Colorado. Both transfer and reenrollment are becoming more important to meeting enrollment goals.

It has been obvious for a number of years that prospective students of diverse backgrounds were a focus for recruiters. The assumption of conservatives was that this was about politics and affirmative action. The broader issue is that the general U.S. population is becoming much more transracial. As this shift occurs, any business or organization that wants to thrive has to figure out how to appeal to students of all cultural backgrounds. To balance enrollment, institutions not only have to appeal, but also to engage students of all cultural backgrounds so that they stay and eventually graduate. Review of the Supreme Court's rejection of affirmative over the last year reveals a mostly negative impact on institutional diversity. One strategy to protect diversity in enrollment is for more institutions to remain test optional.

International student enrollment has buoyed U.S. institution's enrollment and maintaining these numbers is essential. While applications shift from China to India, many institutions will have to recenter their recruitment and campus services. If Trump returns to the White House policy proposals from GOP legislation presumably designed to address anti-Semitism could make it tougher for U.S. institutions to remain attractive to international students.

Cost remains an important factor in many prospective students' decisions. A recent study indicated that the bottom line cost isn't the only issue. Timing, amount, and transparency of financial aid in comparison to the full cost of attendance are all factors. Financial pressures have increased the number of students who work part-time during their enrollment. With under-sourced students more heavily influenced by cost, the higher incompletion rates for FAFSA forms among Latina/o and Black students is troubling. Issues with FAFSA and uncertainty about financial aid may result in enrollment declines for many colleges with small colleges most heavily impacted.

Research determined that approximately one third of currently enrolled students have considered dropping out within the last six months. Multiple studies attribute the primary causes to be stress, mental health concerns, and cost of attendance but the impact of declining confidence in the value of U.S. higher education could be a contributing factor. A U.S. News survey found that 70% of current students reported some form of mental health challenge, yet most have not sought help on campus. Meeting student mental health needs comes in a variety of forms including traditional in-person counseling, tele-health, and early warning initiated by peers. One of the biggest questions is if the rise in reports of mental health concerns is the result of learned helplessness, which may best be resolved by helping students learn to seek help and become more resilient.

The first experiences at college have a big impact on students and greater flexibility in offering orientation has emerged post-pandemic. Institutions that focus on creating a sense of belonging for all will both attract and retain at higher levels than institutions that ignore the importance of human and interpersonal connection.

Business officers expressed concern about the future when they gathered in the summer of 2024. With enrollment so central to generating enough revenue to balance budgets, repercussions of campus demonstrations and the uncertainty of the U.S. presidential election weighed heavily in conversations about the coming year.

Many small private colleges are vulnerable as enrollments shift and decline. One president admonished colleagues to start preparations for potential mergers of campuses before conditions become so urgent that they end up fraught with anxiety, betrayal, and broken dreams. Home to more college campuses than any other state except California, Pennsylvania is reviewing how to reorganize and refocus higher education in the face of declining enrollments.

Have protests gone too far?

I started following the Hamas attack on Israel of October 7 and retaliation in my post begun on October 11. After adding and revising the post on a daily basis, the scenario and my view of it changed dramatically after June 6, 2024. Why? Because, while I understand the emerging protests and the stance that many students at U.S. universities are taking, moving to violence and disruption of the core purpose of higher education goes too far. A survey of current students indicated that most students support the protests taking place on the campus but 67% disagree with unlawful practices and only 13% see the Hamas v. Israel conflict as their top concern.

The amount of disinformation about protests makes it difficult to decide where and how demonstrations have crossed the line, resulting in institutions' being challenged to determine how to respond. A fascinating complication is that perhaps we live in an era "engulfed by a deluge of righteous indignation." When many of the predictable systems and organizations on which we used to depend are failing us, the tendency is to assume that nothing is trustrworthy. Columbia law professor Katherine Franke's comments about Israeli students coming out of IDF service harassing Palestinian students resulted in Columbia's president declaring Franke's comments as anti-Semitic, a show of indignation on the president's part in a heated exchange with U.S. House Committee conservatives.

The attempted assassination of former President Trump resulted in broad condemnation and was used as a political ploy to gain sympathy as well as portray the resilience of Trump. Faculty who have expressed satiric opinions in media posts are testing the limits of public opinion. Discipline of faculty who posted their views on social media tested the bounds of academic freedom.

A recent survey of college-bound students and parents of high school students confirmed that trust in higher education has declined, especially among conservatives. Business officers expressed concern over the reputational erosion and the U.S. presidential election resulting in greater uncertainty about the future.

The rush to demonstrate institutional commitment in confronting anti-Semitism may be contributing to the erasure of opposition to Israel's retaliation. As an example, the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies appointment of prominent Isreali American scholar Raz Segal was retracted by the University president after protests from Jewish constituents. Segal alleged possible violation of academic freedom and said, "I am targeted because of my identity as a Jew who refuses the narrowing down of Jewish identity to Zionism and to support of Isreal, whatever it does."

Inside Higher Education's "Live updates" culled the emerging news coverage together for the high points as of May 2, 2024. The references include encampments, temporary occupations, building take overs, destruction of property, and invitations by presidents for police intervention. Commencement speakers expressed their disapproval of Israel's retaliation in some places. Northwestern University charged staff for protecting Pro-Palestinian demonstrators but they were eventually dropped. Response to campus vandalism at UNC included police seeking access to social media of presumed suspects. Demonstrations both disrupted prospective student events as well as encouraged new student participation. After the dust settled, the University of California estimated the cost of demonstrations at $29 million.

Many of the protests focus on divestment from arms manufactures or other economic ties to Israel, but divestment in today's interconnected economies is complicated. Demands were considered by multiple institutions and included concessions in some cases. The general public is split in its view of protests in general but a larger proportion opposes divestment. The focus on divestment reflects the strategy of 1960's protests against the war in Viet Nam and it attempts to thread the needle of expressing opposition to funding military action rather than criticizing Israel for its response to Hamas' attack of October 7. However, some assert that any divestment would undermine endowments and that past divestment movements were ineffective.

Some campuses report that significant non-student protestors are involved, and perhaps responsible, for demonstrations turning violent. While some campuses avoided major disruptions, others have moved classes on-line, cancelled end-of-year commencements, or closed down completely. Wayne State dismantled an encampment and arrested at least 12 pro-Palestinian protestors and Stanford arrested 13 for occupying the President's office who were charged with felony offenses. Arrests of students and faculty who are supporting them are becoming commonplace with over 2,900 reported. Arrests and other forms of discipline spawned a raft of lawsuits, frequently citing denial of free speech as campuses attempted to prevent or contain protests. Jewish students at Columbia settled their lawsuit claiming disruption of their coursework when the campus moved on-line during protests. Claims of police repression resulted in walkouts and strikes on multiple campuses in California but a judge eventually halted the strikes. UCLA experienced continuing protests in mid-June, 2024, with two dozen protestors arrested and banned from campus. California State at LA experienced a sit-in of 50+ protestors and later dispersed an encampment, both without arrests. Student protesters may face challenges in job placement, which introduces a longer-term risk for expressing dissent. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Florida and Texas were suspended from their institutions.

Carefully examining the classic dichotomy of management versus leadership may be critical to what happens on campus. Managers in university administrations have turned to policies and enforcement while leadership has meant engagement, deliberation, and working toward compromise is favored. Several campuses moved quickly to enforcement, a response that threatened to undermine free expression.The problem is that conservatives view anything short of punishment by suspensions, expulsions, and arrests as weak and the university presidents who have negotiated with protestors were called to account by the House Committee on Education and the Workplace. The three presidents called to the latest House Committee are noticeably different in that they are male and come from a mix of public and private institutions. The three were perceived to hold their ground more than those who previously appeared before the Committee which resulted in less damage control afterward. The next round scheduled for summer of 2024 includes Harvard (again) and Michigan, with the format changing to presidents facing successive rounds of conservative and liberal members of the Committee.

The U.S. Education Department issued a Dear Colleague letter to higher education leaders advising how to deal with anti-Semitism on campus. U.S. Senate Republicans are taking campus unrest and violence as an opportunity to challenge campus administrations' inaction on anti-Semitism and passed a bill to hold campuses accountable. Tables can turn very quickly as evidenced by the U.S. House Republicans cancelling the hearing for George Washington University after the D.C. Mayor cleared a protest encampment. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act, a move that critics assert conflates the issues of criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism. In addition to the continuing anti-Semitism hearings, House Republicans are launching investigation committees for 10 campuses, vowing to punish campuses that they judge did not adequately respond to their inquiries. The U.S. Education Department found Michigan and CUNY violated Title VI and Lafayette College negotiated resolution in their handling of anti-Semitism claims. These cases are a signal to other campuses of what can happen if discrimination claims and protests are not handled well.

Not only is higher education being confronted at the national level, state level investigations and hearings are underway as well. This article includes reference to Minnesota and Virginia hearings that have recently taken place with a caveat that not all hearings are adversarial and can help build closer relationships of higher education to state legislatures.

Communication is a key element of handling protests and University of Texas' firing of 20 communications staffers demonstrates what happens when there is a failure. Exposure of communication that administrators apparently thought was private at Columbia University resulted in their being placed on leave. The administrators were bantering about reactions to a public meeting on anti-Semitism.

Communication, sometimes verging toward indoctrination, is a significant cause of the continuing conflicts on campus. The film "Israelism," which reveals the divide among Jewish youth on the Hamas vs. Israel war, has been condemned by Jewish activists. The Semester at Sea was swept up in controversy when some international students sought to have the film shown as part of their programs. Some communications specialists predict a need for reconciliation with Jewish students when campuses reopen in the fall of 2024. NYU Abu Dhabi was criticized for discouraging pro-Palestinian sentiment, with administrators claiming to protect students from UAE law enforcement.

Republicans in the House exploited campus disruptions to justify increasing investigations of what they assert is a broken higher education system, a mantra that the AAUP documented has been a central focus for conservatives since 2020. The May 23 hearing included Northwestern, Rutgers, and UCLA, their choice motivated by criticism of institutions that negotiated with protestors but the institutions called to hearings represent a tiny slice of elite U.S. institutions. Jewish presidents faced particularly challenging dynamics. Representative Foxx declared, "American universities are officially put on notice that we have come to take our universities back." Foxx was not satisfied with Northwestern' response and threatened to subpoena them for further documentation on anti-Semitism on campus. The AAUP's criticism of University of Texas' President in confronting protestors was applauded by state legislators, a demonstration of the gulf between academics and politicians in Texas.

Legitimate expression of First-Amendment rights turned violent and destructive (looking a lot like the attacks on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021) plays directly into the hands of those who criticize U.S. higher education as led by permissive and weak administration. Responses like that of Louisiana where civil disobedience is now differentiated from free speech may spread to other states and institutions. The conservative movement against higher education in the U.S. is actually part of a world-wide anti-university movement of authoritarian politicians.

U.S. higher education faces fundamental domestic and international pressures that require moving courageously into a new era transformed from within rather than imposed from without. Transformation can only come about through thoughtful review of past examples of student activism and the activist strategies that have remained relevant over time. Restoring trust in higher education should be the ultimate goal, especially given the deliberate singling out of higher education by conservatives who seek to discredit long-standing U.S. institutions.

The protests of winter/spring 2024 came to a close with the end of the traditional academic year. Warning are already coming out related to possible campus disruptions related to the U.S. Presidential election. There are a number of recommendations for institutional leaders to aid them in understanding the best strategies for handling protests in the future. Drafting better policies for free speech with broad campus input will be central to more effective handling protests and conflicts. Defining the best course of action if protests persists into the 2024-25 academic year is essential in order to avoid continuing disruption and criticism.

DEI under attack

I've charted the rise of DEI attacks over the last year and the post summarizing it is extensive. As a leading example, North Carolina conservatives have attempted to impose reading of historical documents as well as have eliminated all DEI offices throughout state higher education. The question is if DEI cuts by the North Carolina system board will have a different outcome than where state legislative action was taken. University of Texas purge of DEI staff, and University of Texas at Dallas doing the same, reflect other examples of the depths to which politicians are now plunging. The University of Wisconsin system DEI chief stepped down in the face of the system's Chancellor freezing DEI hires and reassignment of previous staff to student success offices. Utah institutions dismantled DEI initiatives and cultural centers following a legislative mandate.

Requiring commitment statements to DEI for candidates and employees has been used to improve campus climate for diversity. Under scrutiny, some public institutions have eliminated them and even private institutions like Harvard have followed suit. Signs indicate that the attack on DEI may spread to other areas such as free speech, tenure, and unionization. All of these are intentional efforts to discredit U.S. higher education, an effort to play to the MAGA base that includes many who have not had the opportunity to acquire a higher education and resent it. Attacks on DEI can be directed at anything related to inclusion and belonging, alternative words that have been used to circumvent restrictions. The 2024 GOP platform, approved by candidate Trump, calls for revived traditional liberal arts, improving safety, and returning to "patriotism" that conservatives like.

Some efforts have been made to push back and in other cases educators are sitting back in sheer wonder and confusion and don't know how to respond. The particular issue of scholars being targeted to discredit them and their ideas, as well as weaponizing plagiarism claims, results in all scholars being vulnerable but the pattern of Black academics being disproportionately targeted is most alarming. Conservative groups also target DEI funding, which they assert is the "waste of the day." Critics of the funding analysis reply that categories are overly broad and don't identify sources.

Shaun Harper and other leaders of DEI drew together in defense and published a report to expose the myths about DEI that are part of the politicized environment educators now face. The vilification of DEI, legislation to defund and dismantle it, and staging of spectacles to renounce it have clearly been political. Advocating for the acknowledgement of diversity and the need to embrace it in ways that foster support is critical in the face of well-funded and orchestrated initiatives that seek to undermine it. Harper and co-author Julie Posselt warned education leaders to not get distracted from efforts to diversify enrollment.

A Brookings Institute study on world views is revealing in relation to supporters and challengers of DEI work. The vast majority of U.S. citizens are differentiated into two segments - those with a basically hopeful perspective (45%) and the others who view the world as a hostile and dangerous place (43%). The Brookings study broke down these two worldviews by political inclination, sex, race or ethnic identification, and age. The patterns track the personalities and messaging of the two U.S. Presidential candidates - Biden the optimist and Trump the pessimist.

The Brookings Institute analysis overlaps in interesting ways with the Arnold Kling's (quoted in NYT) characterization of progressives versus conservatives. Kling summarized progressives as concerned about the world struggling between oppressors and the oppressed with their charge being to help the oppressed. On the other hand, conservatives view the future of the world as a struggle between civilization and barbarism. The charge of conservatives then is fighting for order within chaos and striving to protect civilization itself.

Brookings and Kling can help us understand how DEI fits within these two worldviews - the hopeful and progressive world view seeing the goodness and possibility in all people and the pessimist striving to protect civilization seeing terrorism, criminals, and immigrants as a threat to their livelihood. The optimists presently have a 2% edge but their positivity appears to be shrinking. Perhaps a shift toward viewing DEI ideas as new, provisional, and fluid rather than prescriptive would reclaim optimists and convert even some of the pessimists.

I'm thankful for thoughtful scholars such as Harper and his colleagues. I also celebrate the statements made by ACPA - Student Educators International as it seeks to protect and advance racial justice and decolonization. Leading in our time is difficult and requires engagement, deep listening, and advocating a continuing commitment to opening the doors for all to learn. Those individuals and organizations willing to take the heat should be supported by all in education as they seek to protect quality, open inquiry, and advancement of knowledge in the modern day.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation granted $5 Million to the City University of New York (CUNY) to fund the state's first graduate program in Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies. Support like that of the Mellon Foundation provide a glimmer of hope that the anti-DEI movement will be countered by supporters. The recently selected President of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators commented in an interview with Inside Higher Education that the focus of some student affairs educators on diversity and inclusion is challenging but is part of the holistic commitment to students' overall experience.

April 17 was scheduled as a day to push back against the attacks across a number of campuses. Over 75 AAUP chapters have joined protesting "academic freedom restrictions, defending protest rights, supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, calling for free public education, and advocating for more secure faculty job." The protests passed with relatively little media attention.

Advocating for pluralism and discourse, a conference of higher education leaders sponsored by Interfaith America and the American Association of Colleges & Universities, began with comments by the AAC&U President noting the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel as sending shock around the world that "thrust campuses into the international spotlight amid the student protests that followed." The shock resulted in higher education effectively being placed on trial by conservatives who seized the opportunity to take down elite institutions such as Harvard, Penn, and MIT.