The reason Higher Education can’t change is simple: We all put forth very similar, undifferentiated offerings, which makes risk very, well, risky.  If you take a big gamble and you win, your competitors all fall in line, and any advantage you might have is short-lived.  If you take a big gamble and lose, all the cost of failure falls on you.  See: The Tragedy of the Commons.

If you wonder why your discount rate is going up, it’s because your tuition has gone up, and it’s gone up a lot faster than inflation.  Parents and students could absorb this for a while, but does anyone think that a median household income of $80,000 can absorb $60,000 per year?  See: Compound Interest.

Ask anyone who’s stood behind a table at a college fair about the most common questions they hear.  It’s likely they’ll be, “How much do you cost?” “How is your psychology department?” and “What’s your placement rate?”  How would you answer those questions? Complicator: You have ten seconds.  See: Product Information Overload.

If you’re wondering why your yield rate is dropping, the answer is algebra.  In 2001, the typical student applied to 3.7 competitive institutions; by 2023, that number had risen to 8.2.  This not only puts stress on your systems, but it puts stress on students, too.  See: Paradox of Choice.

You’re probably hearing a lot about colleges going back to requiring tests, students fleeing to the south for college, the ban on “Affirmative Action” in admissions, impossible admissions odds at even mid-range institutions, and the loss of men in higher education.  None of these is as clear cut as media reports make them sound, and insight can be easily found from data that’s publicly available.  But not everyone dives in deeply.  See: Information Cascades

What’s the point?  Our information channels are filled with noise and facile conclusions about complicated problems.  Maybe that 28-year-old reporter new to the beat got it right.  But you owe it to yourself to stand on solid information if you’re going to steer through today’s challenges.  Don’t believe everything you read (even on this blog.)