A good life for all

I often reflect on the good life that I've been privileged to have and wondered how I got here. I've actually begun to compose a life story that charts the experiences and events of my family's life that resulted in my two brothers and me having dramatically different lives, yet each including purpose and fulfillment and ultimately a life well lived.

Higher education philosophers and luminaries have long characterized one of its primary purposes being to help students learn about, and acquire habits to be successful in pursuing, a good life. As contemporary educators move through the current period of skepticism about higher education's effectiveness, with its disparity in outcomes across institutions, cultural groups, and socio-economic statuses, some way of understanding where we've fallen short is imperative. And if you are wondering what "fallen short" means, the State of the Nation report provides ample evidence and specifics. The report asserts that, while the U.S. has become increasingly wealthy, life expectancy and key quality of life elements have declined in comparison to other advanced countries. Two measures of higher education outcomes have been future earnings potential and happiness. Evidence of decline in both raises the question if these are reasonable expectations, especially in different national or cultural settings where economies can be more challenging.

A qualitative study of students' views on the benefit of college found that they perceived college attendance as beneficial but not essential. This study reinforced the importance of experiential learning that would lead to employability rather than the broader life enrichment that many colleges promote. Considering this evidence, educators may want to balance the transactional with the transformational aspects of college attendance. The new survey that measures student flourishing launching in the Spring of 2026 could explore this balance. Pilots have been promising and the hope, as researchers' say, is "to encourage colleges and universities to consider flourishing and student development a core function of the institution." Administration of the survey is fee-based ($10,000 USD/institution) and voluntary, with participating institutions receiving extensive analysis of their students' data and recommendations of how to improve.

Students and the values and habits they bring with them to higher education impacts student learning in very important, and difficult to control, ways. Research as well as the lived experiences of faculty suggest that students are more difficult to engage, the result of "cultural and technological shifts that have shortened attention spans and reshaped students' approach to education." Parenting, the rise of grade inflation in secondary and higher education, and the utilitarian focus on credentialing set the stage and the COVID pandemic accelerated these trends. The "hacking learning" that has emerged leans into efficiency, surface learning, and getting quick results.

Steve Mintz of Inside Higher Education recently posted two thought pieces that captured my imagination. The first was an opinion on how the erosion of meaning and connection has undermined achieving a happy and good life for many in the contemporary age. Mintz cites classic authors who blamed "consumerism, technological advancement, careerism and hyperindividualism" as having eroded aspiration for and achievement of meaning and happiness. Countering the preoccupation with work and loss of leisure and community ties can be achieved by "fostering engagement with nature, community and the arts."

Drafting these simple points from Mintz' first article felt elitist in many ways. After all, who really is able to escape preoccupation with work and pursue more leisure and community ties other than the elites of most communities? Especially in the face of his second article, one focused on the shift in understanding racism and violence, it is clear that prejudices and systems of oppression are in place to make sure that not all people have access to the good life. Inequality, hate, and prejudice may seem to be new but have been debated by scholars for over a century - proof that the systems are entrenched in ways that are difficult to challenge. Sustaining these systems is fortified by legacies of colonialism, capitalism and racial inequality, and neocolonialism