The Changing Environment of Higher Education

The University of Minnesota is not alone in facing an environment of increasing financial challenges. The following is an excerpt from a report published by the American Council on Education (El-Khawas, Elaine and Linda Knopp, Campus Trends 1996, Washington, DC: ACE, 1996.):

The Institutional Context:

· Nearly two-thirds of all public institutions receive less state financial support than they did ten years ago.

· Six in ten institutions now have a more diversified financial base.

· Only 40 percent of administrators gave strong ratings to the overall financial condition of their institutions this year, down from 48 percent seven years ago.

· Nearly one-quarter of all public colleges and universities described their financial condition as "fair" or "poor."

· About 80 percent of institutions increased their enrollment over the last decade. About 40 percent increased their enrollment in 1996.

· Eight in ten institutions collaborate more extensively with other colleges and universities than they did ten years ago. Most also reported greater competition with other institutions, both for students and for funding.

Changes in Programs and Students:

· For half of all institutions, increased attention to teaching and learning ranked among their most significant program changes in the last decade.

· Most institutions more closely evaluate and review their academic programs than they did ten years ago.

· Increased use of technology has become a major focus.

· However, only 29 percent gave strong ratings to their ability to keep up with the latest technological advances.

· About 20 percent of institutions have a smaller faculty today than they did a year ago.

· Twenty-three percent expect to decrease the size of their faculty over the next five years.

· Both public and private institutions have about the same tenure proportions today as they had in 1988.

· One-quarter of institutions have full-time faculty positions that are not on the tenure track. Such positions make up about 15 percent of faculty at four-year institutions.

· For most institutions, today's students include more adult learners, more part-time students, and more ethnic and racial minorities than a decade ago.

· Nearly six in ten institutions reported an increase in the number of students from low-income backgrounds.

· At more than two-thirds of institutions, students now take longer to complete a degree.

· Nearly three-quarters of institutions said that their students are more career-oriented than they were ten years ago.

· Almost all colleges and universities offer unpaid internships; two-thirds offer paid internships.

· Nearly eight in ten colleges and universities enroll a larger number of students who hold jobs while attending school than they did a decade ago.

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