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Higher education enterprise is predominantly served by industries and in our country sadly, state of the industry is definitely broken even as there is a continuing demand for college degrees across the world.

US today is far from its past glory where it claimed to have some of the best colleges and universities across the world. Meandering through lost corridors, our higher education system blunders directionless deteriorating fast over the past three decades.

Declining quality and spiralling tuition costs continues to plague aspiring students, especially those from the middle and lower middle class who cannot even imagine getting into the prestigious and elite institutions.

Need of the hour is to devise methods to make our education system less expensive and more productive as this is the only way we can cope with increasing international competition. Statistics show that only half the number of American students who enrol in colleges leave with a bachelor’s degree.

We are one of the bottom most countries in this regard as Italy is the only country ranked lower than us. It is indeed a cause for alarm that for the first time ever in American history, our future generations are poised to be lesser educated than our present and past generations.

There are many obvious reasons for this. Our higher education system is beset by woes that include resistance to accountability, opposition to change and hubris. We are in deep trouble, no doubt, and continue to head in the wrong direction, as agreed by the top leaders in this field.

If we look back at some of our best educational institutions, we automatically swell with pride as many of our institutions date back to before the American Revolution. Some of the top universities are in existence for more than a couple of centuries.

These universities stand tall on the foundation of rich culture and tradition. To ensure that our universities continue to survive, we must ensure that they operate in keeping with emerging trends and are optimally supported.

Situation today is ripe for a major change in higher education in our country. It is time to stop state support roll back and ensure colleges get sufficient funds to continue offering quality education. Tax payers must continue to support this field and measures must be initiated to contain student debt.

Technology continues to advance rapidly and we must leverage the same to offer more benefits to students at lower costs. The way college education can be delivered is being revolutionalized with the emergence of internet.

Education packages must not be constrained into a one-size-fits-all package. Rather courses must be developed based on specific student needs and universities and colleges must focus on providing a variety of social services apart from education.

Students of today need not be tethered to one single campus for the entire course duration. Universities must, in other words, further unbind their package allowing students to customize their package. 

It is time to bring about sweeping changes to our higher education system and ensure that America gradually makes its way to its position of glory at the top.