The education industry goes through phases where it sees core challenges that impact all institutions. This is especially true when considering higher education institutions, like colleges and universities. Due to a combination of societal shifts and emerging technologies, universities and colleges now face a growing number of unique issues. What’s more, many of these issues have nothing to do with a lack of funding - which is something that always plagues this sector. Instead, they’re more finely tuned to specific areas of higher education.
Growing Employee Turnover
Higher education institutions are dealing with as erious staff turnover problem. A recent article titled How ‘Staff On-Demand’ Can Supercharge Your Organization revealed that over half of higher education employees will look for another job in the next twelve months. Employee retention is at an all-time low - though that article does reveal a potential solution.
On-demand staffing is the idea of having pools of employees who are ready to work as and when required, rather than keeping them contracted full-time. It’s suggested as a great alternative because it gives employees more flexibility to work when they want, though will it be enough to deal with the growing turnover rates?
Shrinking Applicant Pools
According to a recent news report, enrollment in higher education facilities has decreased by 1.5 million in the last 15 years. Students don’t want to go to college anymore - and that’s a serious problem for institutions.
Keep in mind that most higher ed institutions rely on tuition fees to make money. If there aren’t as many students looking for courses, it means there’s more competition amongst universities. What tends to happen here is that the most prestigious ones snap up all the students, while the rest go without.
It’s a serious problem that could be put down to the lack of faith students now have in higher education. Decades ago, getting a degree would automatically lead you into a well-paid career. That’s not the case anymore. Students wonder why they should spend thousands on a degree that gets them nowhere, and so universities need to adapt to this. Expect to see more courses with clear career paths post-graduation as a way of drawing in student applications.
Artificial Intelligence
While the previous two problems mainly affect the behind-the-scenes workings of a college, artificial intelligence is right on the frontlines. There are growing concerns about the use of AI in student coursework. Facilities have to invest in technology to try to detect artificial intelligence when people submit their work.
You can even argue that AI is a problem because some professors use it to help grade work. It creates a horrible cycle where AI is destroying the university and making studying redundant. Big moves must be made to clamp down on AI in college work, or else who knows where we’ll end up?
All of this means that higher education is in a very precarious state. It may not seem like it from the outside, but concerns over turnover - mixed with a lack of applicants and the AI problem - mean many facilities are struggling to stay afloat. Some solutions exist, but what does the future hold for this once great sector?
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