The conventional advice to people who compose New Year’s resolutions is to make them measurable, realistic and something they want to do. We are not going to heed that advice.
Whether they want to or not, we think it urgently necessary for administrators and professors to have candid conversations among themselves and with students, parents, alumni, politicians and other Americans about how to restore public confidence in higher education, which has hit its “lowest level ever.”
Just over half of Americans, and only 31 percent of Republicans, believe higher education has a positive effect on the country, and majorities of both parties think higher education is unaffordable and headed in the wrong direction.
Higher education is not alone — public trust in most national institutions is at “historic lows” — but that should offer little solace to a sector facing falling enrollment; financial challenges; growing skepticism about the value of a college degree; a hostile administration and Congress; and red-state legislatures eager to gut everything from tenure to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
With these threats in mind, we offer the following resolutions.
Don’t dismiss the critics. When President-elect Trump and like-minded critics insist that colleges and universities are “dominated by Marxist Maniacs and lunatics,” it’s tempting to dismiss them as anti-woke extremists. Beneath the overheated rhetoric, however, lie legitimate concerns — about elitism, cost, free speech, suppression of conservative viewpoints, DEI orthodoxies, campus antisemitism and inadequate career preparation. Administrators and faculty should make a concerted effort to address these issues.
Hire more conservatives. While the claim that colleges and universities indoctrinate students in left-wing ideologies is largely a myth, conservative faculty are “scarce and getting scarcer.” Their numbers vary by discipline and institution type, but only 10 to 15 percent of faculty nationally are conservatives. Many humanities and social science departments have no conservative professors.
If one believes, as we do, that exposure to a broad range of methodologies and points of view promotes critical thinking and the unfettered exchange of ideas, then colleges and universities should do a lot more to foster intellectual diversity without compromising their hiring standards. They might begin by filling vacant lines with positions in fields that attract conservative thinkers, such as constitutional law, diplomatic and military history and moral philosophy, and by creating multi-year, renewable positions for visiting professors drawn from government, think tanks and the private sector.
Control costs. Republicans and Democrats both cite high tuition as an important reason for questioning the value of college. Only 22 percent of Americans think a four-year degree is worth the cost if it requires taking out loans. Over the past 20 years, inflation-adjusted tuition at private universities and in-state tuition at public universities has grown over 40 percent. Student debt has climbed 66 percent in just 10 years, reaching nearly $1.8 trillion. Of course, competitive pressures make cutting costs much easier said than done, but even wealthy colleges and universities might learn from the experience of institutions forced by declining enrollment to cut spending.
Here are some suggestions we think could be implemented without compromising the core functions of higher education — the creation and dissemination of knowledge.
Colleges and universities could eliminate or reduce merit scholarships and offer only need-based aid. They could decrease travel by administrators and faculty, who made do with Zoom during the pandemic; cut spending on fitness centers and other amenities for students; take advantage of inter-library loan policies to downsize their own libraries; and outsource dining, health care and facilities maintenance. They could drastically reduce guest lectures by academics, who attract ever smaller audiences, and celebrities, who charge exorbitant fees and rarely say anything of note. They could reduce the number of varsity coaches at some Division 1 schools — which the NCAA increased in 2023 — and slash the number of assistant coaches. They might also adjust teaching loads, which have declined significantly since the 1980s.
Work with Congress. Republicans in Congress are on a mission, in the words of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), “to restore law and order, academic integrity and moral decency to America’s higher education institutions.” This translates into a host of proposed punitive measures, ranging from increasing taxes on large endowments to restricting DEI programs and holding colleges and universities responsible for student loan defaults.
To counter the narrative that higher education is unresponsive and unaccountable, colleges and universities need to do a better job of engaging with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to understand their concerns, correct misperceptions, explain the implications of proposed legislation and suggest alternatives. Colleges and universities could offer to increase endowment payouts and expand financial aid as an alternative to raising the endowment excise tax.
Show them the money. Given a choice of five alternatives to college, ranging from trade school to apprenticeships to military service, large majorities in a recent poll “said each one was about the same as or better than a bachelor’s degree in trying to achieve a successful livelihood.” In reality, college graduates earn 65 percent more than peers who only complete high school. And this reality does not take into account the many intangible benefits of education, including intellectual and personal growth, better health and greater civic engagement. Outcomes vary widely, however, and a substantial share of college students, especially those who do not complete their degree, find the return on their investment disappointing or worse.
Accordingly, higher education leaders need to do a much better job helping all students complete their education and translate it into career success. That might include expanding academic advising, ramping up internship programs, strengthening career counseling, engaging alumni in identifying job placement opportunities and matching curricular offerings to market realities.
Despite its many shortcomings, American higher education remains the envy of the world. American universities dominate international rankings, though their lead is shrinking; Americans lead the world in Nobel prizes and other international awards; and the U.S. “remains the destination of choice for international students wishing to study abroad.” Research from American universities generates breakthroughs in virtually every field and underpins U.S. economic, political and military strength.
To retain our preeminence in higher education and help future generations of Americans surpass their parents in all facets of life, colleges and universities need to regain the public’s trust. That’s a worthy New Year’s resolution for all of us.
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. David Wippman is emeritus president of Hamilton College.
