LIBERALARTSONLINE

LiberalArtsOnline is an occasional electronic publication of the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts about assessment in liberal arts education. We invite you to subscribe and to submit an essay. Past issues are available in the archives.

LiberalArtsOnline Volume 7, Number 6
November 2007

Mission, Market, Value, and Excellence: The New Economics of the Liberal Arts
by Jon McGee
Vice President for Enrollment, Planning, and Public Affairs
College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season
of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven,
we were all going direct the other way.
                                                                              --Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Nearly 150 years after it was written, Dickens’ opening passage in his classic prelude to the French Revolution offers a remarkably accurate description of the environment for colleges and universities today. Though we will not likely experience anything as dramatic as the storming of the Bastille, or even the storming of the president’s office, it is clear that American higher education is entering a period of great change—a time that will challenge both our operating beliefs and our belief about operations.

Colleges across the country have begun their budget work preparing for the 2008–09 academic year. For many institutions, that process will involve making difficult choices about the future, balancing the needs of the mission with the demands of the market. Resources are rarely what we would like them to be—sometimes not even what we need them to be. Most colleges in America, and small liberal arts institutions in particular, now face two converging financial stress points that have enormous implications for their future:  Read more.

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