Overview

The US higher education system is on the verge of a revolution, so some observers claim. Archibald and Feldman, leading analysts, provide an incisive overview of the challenges facing and possibilities for America's universities and colleges in their training future generations. And they demonstrate that our higher education system is resilient and adaptable enough to weather the internal, external, and technological threats without changing campuses beyond recognition. The Road Ahead for America's Colleges and Universities examines the threats posed to the current health of higher education by rising tuition and falling government support, as well as from new digital technologies rippling through the entire economy. Some predict disaster, pointing to high costs, exploding debt, and a digital tsunami that supposedly will combine to disrupt and sweep away many of the nation's higher education institutions, or change them beyond recognition. Archibald and Feldman provide a more nuanced view. They argue that the bundle of services that four-year colleges and universities provide will retain its value for the traditional age range of college students. Less certain, Archibald and Feldman argue, is whether the system will continue to be a force for social and economic opportunity. The threats are most dire at schools that disproportionately serve America's most underprivileged students. At the same time, growing income inequality reduces the ability of many students and their families to pay for higher education. Archibald and Feldman suggest a range of policy options at the state and federal level that will help America's higher education system continue to fulfill its promise.

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9780190251949

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The Road Ahead should be required reading for economists and noneconomists alike who study higher education and seek to understand why it works the way that it does, and how it might be improved. -- Journal of Economic Literature One often encounters the view that higher education as we have known it for decades is no longer sustainable. Following up on their best-selling book, Why Does College Cost So Much?, economists Robert Archibald and David Feldman bring their analytical insights and clear writing to bear on this proposition, carefully examining both internal and external challenges facing higher education. While not denying the severity of the challenges, they provide a balanced assessment that will prove helpful to Board members, administrators, faculty, legislators, philanthropists, and families as they make decisions that determine the future of our colleges and universities. -- David W. Breneman, Professor Emeritus in Economics of Education and Public Policy, University of Virginia What a pleasure to read a discussion of higher education that is data-driven and carefully argued. Archibald and Feldman are neither Pollyannas nor prophets of doom when it comes to the present and future of American colleges and universities. They rely on copious evidence and a deep familiarity with how colleges work to analyze both the resiliency of and the real challenges facing all but the wealthiest of institutions. They dispel a host of myths and misconceptions. Like their previous book, this one is essential reading for anyone who cares about how we can ensure that we educate more people more effectively. -- Brian Rosenberg, President, Macalester College To assess the prospects that disintermediation will disrupt the existing higher education landscape, these economists deftly employ the tools of their trade to produce a compelling vision of the future. Readers of all backgrounds will find in this book an engagingly written, level-headed analysis. Change there will be, but the walls won't come tumbling down. -- Charles T. Clotfelter, Duke University The authors bring an easy conversational style and a strong knowledge of higher education economics together in an accessible, instructive and sobering book. -- Michael McPherson, Spencer Foundation

""The Road Ahead should be required reading for economists and noneconomists alike who study higher education and seek to understand why it works the way that it does, and how it might be improved."" -- Journal of Economic Literature ""One often encounters the view that higher education as we have known it for decades is no longer sustainable. Following up on their best-selling book, Why Does College Cost So Much?, economists Robert Archibald and David Feldman bring their analytical insights and clear writing to bear on this proposition, carefully examining both internal and external challenges facing higher education. While not denying the severity of the challenges, they provide a balanced assessment that will prove helpful to Board members, administrators, faculty, legislators, philanthropists, and families as they make decisions that determine the future of our colleges and universities."" -- David W. Breneman, Professor Emeritus in Economics of Education and Public Policy, University of Virginia ""What a pleasure to read a discussion of higher education that is data-driven and carefully argued. Archibald and Feldman are neither Pollyannas nor prophets of doom when it comes to the present and future of American colleges and universities. They rely on copious evidence and a deep familiarity with how colleges work to analyze both the resiliency of and the real challenges facing all but the wealthiest of institutions. They dispel a host of myths and misconceptions. Like their previous book, this one is essential reading for anyone who cares about how we can ensure that we educate more people more effectively."" -- Brian Rosenberg, President, Macalester College ""To assess the prospects that disintermediation will disrupt the existing higher education landscape, these economists deftly employ the tools of their trade to produce a compelling vision of the future. Readers of all backgrounds will find in this book an engagingly written, level-headed analysis. Change there will be, but the walls won't come tumbling down."" -- Charles T. Clotfelter, Duke University ""The authors bring an easy conversational style and a strong knowledge of higher education economics together in an accessible, instructive and sobering book."" -- Michael McPherson, Spencer Foundation

"""The Road Ahead should be required reading for economists and noneconomists alike who study higher education and seek to understand why it works the way that it does, and how it might be improved."" -- Journal of Economic Literature ""One often encounters the view that higher education as we have known it for decades is no longer sustainable. Following up on their best-selling book, Why Does College Cost So Much?, economists Robert Archibald and David Feldman bring their analytical insights and clear writing to bear on this proposition, carefully examining both internal and external challenges facing higher education. While not denying the severity of the challenges, they provide a balanced assessment that will prove helpful to Board members, administrators, faculty, legislators, philanthropists, and families as they make decisions that determine the future of our colleges and universities."" -- David W. Breneman, Professor Emeritus in Economics of Education and Public Policy, University of Virginia ""What a pleasure to read a discussion of higher education that is data-driven and carefully argued. Archibald and Feldman are neither Pollyannas nor prophets of doom when it comes to the present and future of American colleges and universities. They rely on copious evidence and a deep familiarity with how colleges work to analyze both the resiliency of and the real challenges facing all but the wealthiest of institutions. They dispel a host of myths and misconceptions. Like their previous book, this one is essential reading for anyone who cares about how we can ensure that we educate more people more effectively."" -- Brian Rosenberg, President, Macalester College ""To assess the prospects that disintermediation will disrupt the existing higher education landscape, these economists deftly employ the tools of their trade to produce a compelling vision of the future. Readers of all backgrounds will find in this book an engagingly written, level-headed analysis. Change there will be, but the walls won't come tumbling down."" -- Charles T. Clotfelter, Duke University ""The authors bring an easy conversational style and a strong knowledge of higher education economics together in an accessible, instructive and sobering book."" -- Michael McPherson, Spencer Foundation"

Author Information

Robert B. Archibald is Chancellor Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary. He has served as department chair, director of the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy, interim dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and faculty representative on William and Mary's Board of Visitors. David H. Feldman is Professor of Economics and Public Policy, and former chair of the Department of Economics at the College of William & Mary. He has been honored by W&M with a University Professorship for Teaching Excellence and by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) with the Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award.

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