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Logos article from earlier this year, written by David Schultz, explores whether the neoliberal model for university education is in the process of fading away. Schultz begins:
Since the end of World War II two business models have defined the operations of American higher education. The first was the Dewey model that lasted until the 1970s. The second, a corporate model, flourished until the economic crash in 2008. What the new business model for higher education will be is uncertain, but from the ashes of the status quo we see emerging one that returns to an era before World War II when only the affluent could afford college and access was limited to the privileged few
Schultz goes on to suggest that consolidation of universities may make sense as student populations dwindle and academic institutions are forced to compete for students. At the same time, the corporate university privileges business-minded administration and moves away from a shared governance model that situates faculty at the center of university life. The rise of for profit colleges,
shared on the New York Stock Exchange, also poses a challenge to those resisting the neoliberal turn in university education.
Schultz offers the following as a rough prediction:
while many for-profit institutions may not be able to withstand market pressures, look to see many traditional colleges and universities will have no choice but to emulate that management style. It may not be a viable business model but given economic pressures for the future, that may be the only one that exists, rewarding a few schools that are able to provide a curriculum that is cheap enough that students want to attend. In effect, the new business model is a hyper-extension of the current model. This may mean even more alliance with corporate America along with curriculum pressures that further de-emphasize traditional liberal arts studies in place of professional education. One sign of that already is the movement to take professional degrees such as MBAs and now offer BBAs instead.
The race to the bottom and the emphasis on providing cheap education does a disservice to university life. Subsuming the university under the market model has become a more
common refrain in
recent years. However, similar to the recent history in the geopolitical realm, what cannot be taken by brute force can be taken through "structural adjustment" and the prying open of markets with the neoliberal crowbar.
