University Business - April 2009 - (Page 42)

independent outlook Timely, Targeted and Totally Yours for Free policies. Two such motivations come to mind. One concerns continuing institutional mission, the other, securing the economic vitality of the country. Most American colleges and universities are committed to access in their institutional mission. More than 80 percent of full-time students at private colleges and universities receive financial aid. At public universities, the number is about 70 percent. Some institutions can trace this obligation to the religious beliefs are destined for economic decline unless they significantly expand the number of college graduates available for the workforce needed in 2050. Time for an alliance How then can colleges and universities find the resources to sustain them through the current downturn? How can they maintain the access levels to higher education that are critical to the country’s economic future? Certainly, students should be expected to contribute to the cost of their education. But it is clear that the families of future students will be less able to pay the full costs of attending college. And as large endowments recover in five to ten years, they will still not reach support levels to match the demand for financial aid. Currently, the great majority of colleges and universities don’t have endowments worthy of the name. Colleges and universities must begin to forge a new alliance with government at both the state and federal levels. Higher education can plant the seed for such an alliance by investing in efforts to educate the public and government officials about the nature and breadth of the financial aid problem and its potential impact on America’s fortunes. Equally important, all constituencies in higher education must make a genuine attempt to reduce operating costs without sacrificing educational quality. Reducing costs is an essential good-faith effort to win the support of political officials and the American public. University leaders must help elevate higher education policy to the same level as health care, Social Security, and defense, for it is just as essential to the nation’s future. Only when getting a college education becomes as natural as progressing through elementary and high school—when universities and government ensure access for all qualified students—can higher education finally reap its full harvest. universitybusiness.com Get your subscription for University Business Digital Edition. The families of future students will be less able to pay the full costs of attending college. and values that lie at the core of their existence. But all institutions, whether public or private, serve society by developing leaders and responsible citizens for future generations. This is why they were created, and they cannot fulfill their purpose unless their doors are open to all students of ability. Further, colleges and universities need student populations that are socially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse. The education of future leaders and citizens requires exposure to the views and experiences of the many groups that make up society both in the classroom and in co-curricular life. Colleges and universities cannot accomplish the goals for which they were founded without finding a way to finance higher education for all strata of society. Add to this another self-serving motivation. The United States cannot maintain its global economic position without marshalling all of its potential talent in the competition with China, India, the European Union, and other nations that will define the world economy in the 21st century. States such as Texas, where Enriqueta worked the fields and attended college, have already determined that they and insights of University Business! Have your associates request a free DIGITAL subscription. www.UniversityBusiness.com/DigitalMag Share the valuable ideas 42 | April 2009 UB Digital Edition 3rd.indd 1 3/20/09 11:55:18 AM http://www.UniversityBusiness.com/DigitalMag http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2009

University Business - April 2009
Contents
Editor's Note
Company Index
Advisory Board
College Index
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Internet Technology
Financial Aid
The Main Event
Software Serves
Managing the Experience
Independent Outlook
What's New
End Note

University Business - April 2009