Coming Crisis in Higher Education?

If you follow Dallas Maverick's owner Marc Cuban's blog, you probably know that he is something of a near futurist, but he's rarely off the mark analytically, and his latest entry on The Coming Meltdown in Higher Education is precision laser guided (Check out the article here. Easy credit in the student loan markets has artificially subsidized the four-year degree granting market for three decades, and for many students college has become a four-year reality detour before embarking on the real work of real life. Student loan indebtedness exceeds consumer debt, and with an exceedingly competitive global marketplace where the best career options require more technical and intensive training and work ethic, those who are left behind (or who fail to prepare) will face a mountain too steep to climb. And fundamentally, the underwriting assumptions of student loans are similar to those of subprime mortgages, and the collapse of the market will put student borrowers onto unstable credit footing. Worse, it will push the lesser endowed colleges to the brink.

There are potential solutions, including asking colleges to assume more loan risk (while aggressively partnering with potential employers, while doing a better job in quality control), demanding co-signatures among parents/dependents, or perhaps creating a national jobs corp whereby indebted students "enlist" to perform duties of local, regional, national or even international necessity at below market salaries in exchange for loan forgiveness.

But the real killer-app in this endeavor would be for one (or several) major universities to, simply, post a price tag of $0, a free degree to any qualified applicant.

And it would not nee to be an Ivy League+ Institution. A major regional university with the ability to absorb an 8- or 9- figure budget hole would attract interest from the best and most capable minds in the world. Donors/corporations/industries could (should?) underwrite the program. Such an offer could be regionally transformative, so perhaps state governments would wade into the game.

In my mind, the first college to blink in this race will set themselves apart in the race for the best and most talented young people in the Country. For their sake, let's hope it starts sooner rather than later.