A large swath of the America public has lost faith in higher education. Worse, colleges and universities are facing new and growing challenges related to funding, enrollment, artificial intelligence, athletics, and more. Higher education needs a strategy, fast.
Given their powers over public education, governors are uniquely positioned to take the lead. This is not a novel proposition. In fact, they can learn from a gathering of their predecessors nearly 40 years ago that energized an era of bipartisan reform in K–12 education.
In 1989, 49 of the nation’s governors assembled in Charlottesville, Virginia, to address the national crisis in K–12 schools. Several years earlier, the jarring government report A Nation At Risk catalogued the deterioration of student achievement, underscoring the results of other depressing studies.
Those governors understood that public education is a state responsibility. They couldn’t wait for Uncle Sam to come to the rescue. They also knew good schools are key to healthy communities and job growth. Governors have a natural ability to find pragmatic solutions.
The consensus that emerged came to be known as the standards and accountability movement. States clarified what students needed to know, set higher expectations, and developed tests to measure classroom learning. These policies catalyzed and built on other state-led reforms related to teacher training, school report cards, charter schools, and more. During this period, governors on the left and right—like Democrats Bill Clinton, James Hunt, and Dick Riley and Republicans Lamar Alexander, John Engler, and Tommy Thompson—demonstrated that education improvement could be marked by bipartisanship and workable fixes instead of partisan rancor.
Many Americans think higher education is in the same predicament as K–12 schools back then. They doubt that a degree is worth the expense. They see campuses fixated on politics and beset by protests. They read that students don’t do much coursework anymore and yet get easy A’s. Governors, once again, can provide a solution.
Though a few elite private universities get enormous attention, almost three–quarters of all undergraduates attend public institutions. Governors have the authority to reshape these schools. Yes, they can propose legislation and affect campus spending, but they possess a more valuable tool: They appoint most members of the governing boards that oversee public universities. According to my new research, 87 percent of students in public universities are in institutions subject to this kind of gubernatorial direction.
These boards hire and fire college presidents. They approve budgets and sunset academic programs. They establish policies on tuition, core courses, degree requirements, free speech, and more. To get higher education back on track, America’s governors don’t need new laws or the meddling of Uncle Sam. They need to select accomplished, upright, determined board members. That means treating board seats not as plum appointments to reward old friends, political benefactors, or athletic boosters but instead as meritorious positions for those with the knowledge, skills, and temperament needed to advance a bipartisan reform agenda.
Five consensus items stand out. First, improve the institution’s “return on investment.” Many Americans believe college is no longer worth the cost. Indeed, some programs leave students deep in debt and without meaningful job prospects. That must change. But future salary is not the only measure that matters. We also need informed citizens. Universities should produce graduates who understand history, literature, and the social sciences. Boards can ensure a college education provides a return on investment with a dual purpose: preparation for employment and citizenship.
Second, expand and improve alternative credentials. Not every high school graduate needs a four-year degree. But to keep up with the changing workplace, they need the opportunity for ongoing training. Other institutions now offer a staggering array of courses leading to workforce credentials like licenses and certificates. Universities need to define their role in this evolving world, especially as the new federal “Workforce Pell” program will direct more funding to short-term, non-degree programs.
