On May 16, 2013, The Atlantic published an article written by Chester Finn, titled “Why Private Schools Are Dying Out.” Finn explores private schools in America and why they’re “dying out.” While most of the article discusses the situation as it applies to private schools, the author also writes that non-elite, private colleges are also burdened with similar challenges, namely needing to heavily discount tuition in order to attract students.
This week, I had the opportunity to attend the American Council on Education’s (ACE) annual meeting in Washington, DC. The theme of this year’s conference was Reaching Higher, but the underlying theme seemed to be “the winds of change are upon us.”
Sunday’s session for presidents and chancellors had the following topics: Vision and Change at BYU-Idaho: A Model for America’s Colleges and Universities, Information Technology: Seize the Day, and a luncheon at which Terry Hartle, SVP of Government and Public Affairs of ACE spoke about the pending Department of Education regulations regarding Credit Hours, State Regulation, Gainful Employment, Accreditation, and Misrepresentation.
Alan Paton wrote Cry, the Beloved Country about his native country, South Africa, in 1946. In the 60 plus years since, it has become a classic. When I was an undergraduate at Duke in the 1970’s, this book was required reading in a class that I did not have to take. In preparation for a trip to South Africa this month, I recently read it for the first time.
From Thanksgiving to New Years Day and the following weekend, the college football schedule is filled with bowl games. After the New Year begins, college sports fans can turn their attention to the height of the college basketball season that culminates in the annual March Madness NCAA Division I tournament. College athletics is big business although perhaps only ten to twenty Division I programs make money each year.
As a recipient of financial aid in the 1970’s when I attended Duke and Tulane, I can relate to the continual and ongoing debate about the affordability of college.