Trusteeship - November/December 2021 - 31

(controlled), and collaboration (high). We
have discovered that we can actually deliver
administrative services such as IT, mental
health counseling, and advising remotely-
perhaps even more efficiently and effectively
than before. Faculty who never
imagined teaching a class remotely are
increasingly supportive of the movement
toward online education. And the level of
collaboration between boards and cabinets
and faculty and staff have risen to new levels,
out of necessity, if nothing else.
Board members and presidents with
whom I have spoken recently, while
exhausted, are finally ready to look forward.
With board meetings, retreats, and strategy
reviews on the docket, I felt that it would be
helpful to offer specific guidance on the key
strategic topics for universities as they look
toward the future. As a strategy professor
and management consultant, I will of course
offer a few frameworks and tools to support
that process. In particular, since most
institutions have completed some sort of
strategic planning over the past few years, I
suggest a " strategy refresh " during which you
examine your existing strategy statements
and priorities while the lessons learned from
COVID-19 are still fresh and the openness
toward bold collaborative actions may be
high. In other words, leverage your past strategic
planning but tighten it up with strategy
slogans and revised priorities to motivate
your university for a bright future.
The Macro Trends
The starting point for a strategy refresh
is to look outside the institution. Macro
(external) forces are those beyond our control
but should be considered in strategy as
they provide opportunities for growth and
change as well as threats that could thwart
the best-designed plans.
It is clear that the pandemic has not
only shifted some of the macro trends but
also accelerated the impact of the macro
trends by years or even decades. Below is a
AGB.ORG
The Possible Transformation of Higher Education
Dimension
Tuition
Current
Differentiation of Profiders
Accessibility
Online Education
Medium-High
Low
Low
Low
Partnerships with Employers Medium
Virtual Campus Services
Low
Inter-University Collaboration Low
Relevance
Low
Faculty
Students
National Universities
Credentials
Single-University
18-24-Year-Old
Few
2 and 4-Year Degrees
Future
Free-Low
High
High
High
High
High
Medium
High
Multi-University/Free Agent
18-80-Year-Old
Many
Degrees + Badges + Certificates
Source: Paul N. Friga, Ph.D.
summary of some of the key macro trends
as well as my prediction as to how they will
continue to change over the next decade.
These are critical topics for board and cabinet
conversations as they examine their
mission, values, vision, and priorities with
this new world order in mind.
Let's start with tuition, the largest source
of revenue on most universities and colleges.
For decades, the norm has been to
raise tuitions between 3-5 percent every
year and even more at private institutions.
The bottom line is that tuition rates have
reached levels that make higher education
out of reach for many prospective students,
particularly those from lower-income families.
The $1.7 trillion in student debt is a
significant burden in our society.
Given declining enrollment trends of
traditional-age college students, universities
have adopted aggressive discounting strategies,
resulting in actual net tuition revenues
between 40-60 percent of published rates.
In fact, the most recent discount rate report
shows an average discount of 52 percent for
private universities-a new record-and
trends for the past decade have shown
steady and significant growth on discounts.
Public universities, such as UNC-Chapel
Hill, have worked to maintain low tuitions
over time and beef up scholarship programs
such as the Carolina Covenant that
provides full tuition for any accepted students
without the means to cover the cost.
Other universities, including Purdue University
and Arizona State University, have
taken leadership positions over the past five
years and frozen tuitions and made up for
the lost incremental revenues with careful
cost containment efforts.
The pandemic may have accelerated the
trend of a movement toward lower overall
and net tuition, and more than half of the
universities in a recent research study I conducted
actually decreased or froze tuition
over the past fiscal year. The new administration
under President Joe Biden is floating
proposals for free community college and
college debt forgiveness, which should
be monitored closely. The three national
stimulus programs have also provided
significant funding to students during the
NOV.DEC.2021 TRUSTEESHIP 31
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Trusteeship - November/December 2021

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