Bet Ready for the Coming Crisis in Higher Education

Here are some of the key components: 1. Huge numbers of college graduates are leaving college with huge debt and no realistic prospects of paying off the debt in a stagnant job market where the majority of jobs have low wages. 2. Many universities have mortgaged their future by going into debt to finance the construction of new buildings, at a time when the pool of those able to pay high tuitions is shrinking fast. 3. On line colleges are cropping up which promise university educations at a fraction of the cost that most universities currently charge for a 4 year degree. **********The probably result are: 1. Bankruptcy of some colleges 2; Drastic shrinkage of others involving elimination or consolidation of whole departments and firing of full time faculty 3; Attacks on tenure and replacement of tenure track faculty by adjuncts or those receiving short term contracts 4. Massive protests against student debt which will require lenders to renegotiate student loans at a fraction of their value, leading to another round of bank and lender bailouts by the federal government ******(((All of these things will happen in the 5-10 years, possibly earlier. Some are happening already. *********University teaching and instruction, except at a small number of elite universities, will be transformed beyond recognition.