Page 38 - Crisis in Higher Education

The Higher Education Conundrum • 13

3. Uncertainty about customers: Because there are multiple demand–
supply relationships and third-party payers, questions arise about
who the customers really are and how they should be treated.
4. Regulation and accreditation: Higher education operates in an envi-
ronment of government subsidy and regulation and a wide variety of
accrediting agencies that assess quality and examine performance.
5. Tenure: It can be granted to tenure-track faculty usually after six
years on the job. Tenure provides specific rights of due process and
requires that universities show cause for dismissal.
6. Conglomerate: Institutions of higher learning have ancillary ser-
vices such as sports and student housing that require vastly different
resources and capabilities and whose outcomes are not related to the
institution’s primary mission.

1.3 MEDIATING TWO DEMAND–SUPPLY RELATIONSHIPS
As shown in Figure 1.1, higher education sits astride two important
demand–supply relationships. First, applicants seek admissions to schools,
which often have a limited number of slots available. There is competi-
tion to gain admission to elite colleges and universities for programs with
strong national and international reputations. Some students seek special
programs, others want the small school experience with small class size,
and still others make the choice based on sports or extracurricular activi-
ties. Having selection criteria like these is typical for customers who pur-
chase other goods and services, but the difference is the back end, where
students become graduates who seek employment.
This second demand–supply relationship is important because institu-
tions should feel responsibility to educate graduates who can work for bio-
tech companies, elementary schools, engineering firms, governments, and
other organizations. When demand and supply are in balance, graduates
begin their working lives with opportunities for success, including paying
back loans and living comfortably. So both students and organizations that
hire graduates are customers, and higher education is the matchmaker that
mediates this critical relationship. This point is discussed in more detail later
in the book. There are some graduates who seek advanced degrees in fields
such as medicine or law, but ultimately they seek employment, and after the
work employment their first degree is a stepping-stone to that end.