Higher Education

Big Picture

For the second time in three years, Education Writers Association conducted a survey of higher education reporters across the country to examine and consider trends in higher education. The two surveys are part of a project, funded by the Lumina Foundation on Education, that aims to raise media awareness and knowledge of higher education issues.

View the survey report here

View a summary of the survey here

View the survey here

About one quarter of American adults hold baccalaureate degrees, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, while another 20 percent attended college for at least a year or received an associate degree. The 2000 Census, in fact, says that education attainment is higher than it's ever been. And it should be, according to economists, who warn that more and more of the American workforce must have some college education to thrive in today's economy.

The United States has rich variety in its institutions of higher education. A large city may be served by community colleges, public and private liberal arts colleges, and public and private universities with graduate programs and often research institutes. About 4,000 colleges and universities in the country enroll more than 15 million students. Their annual expenditures were more than $230 billion, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education 2003-04 Almanac, not including for-profit institutions. The nature of these schools, however, varies considerably.

There are three basic kinds of accredited colleges and universities:

• Public colleges and universities, both four-year and two-year, which account for 41 percent of the 4,197 institutions.
• Private, non-profit four-year and two-year institutions, which make up 40 percent
• Proprietary, for-profit schools, which make up 19 percent, up dramatically from a few years ago, when they made up only 9 percent of the total institutions.

Is it a "college" or a "university?"

What distinguishes a college from a university? Historically, university status was reserved for complex, research-oriented schools that offered extensive programs for graduate students. But increasingly, schools that cater primarily to undergraduates also call themselves universities because their administrators believe the term connotes prestige and, by extension, will attract money and students.

Public or Private?

Public institutions have traditionally been heavily subsidized by state governments, so their tuitions are relatively low. But as state budgets get tighter, less is available for state schools and tuitions have risen, although they are still a bargain They are run by state agencies with public governing boards, so reporters have relatively easy access to their meetings, data and records.

Community and technical colleges, which often also receive money from their local governments, are often overlooked on the higher education beat. But they offer a wealth of stories because they serve students from diverse backgrounds, from young mothers trying to get off welfare to retirees training for new jobs to precocious high-school students trying to get a jump on college.

Programs at these schools range from vocational training and continuing education to a freshman and sophomore curriculum that can be transferred to a four-year college and applied toward a bachelor's degree. Many states are building "school-to-work'' programs that link community colleges with high schools to provide more advanced vocational and academic training. Community colleges are one of the fastest growing sectors of higher education -- total enrollments almost doubled from 1972 through 1990. In 1999, more than 4.1 million students were enrolled in two-year community and technical colleges; about 40 percent were ages 25 and over.

These colleges continue to grow as they expand and build branch campuses. More growth is expected as tight budgets force states to look for more economical ways to educate growing student populations.

Most private colleges are non-profit institutions that rely on private donations and tuition to cover their operating expenses. They charge much higher tuition than public institutions, and their meetings and records don't fall under the same sunshine laws unless public money is involved. Like their public counterparts, these schools include research universities and two- and four-year colleges.

Notable among the private, four-year institutions are liberal arts colleges, which confer mainly bachelor's degrees and stress undergraduate teaching. Many private colleges were begun by religious denominations, but most have since broken those ties. The exceptions generally are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church or Protestant churches, often evangelical religions. Some private research universities are among the most prestigious in the country -- Harvard, the University of Chicago, Stanford, Rice and Duke, to name a few.

Proprietary, or for-profit, schools are another part of the beat that often are overlooked. But this fast-growing segment of higher education bears watching. Traditionally, these schools offered technical and vocational curricula, although some are expanding to offer bachelor's and master's degrees. Some of these schools, which once were owned locally, are being absorbed into large chains with central headquarters. And some are earning accreditation from the same well-regarded associations as public and non-profit colleges, giving their students more status when they apply to graduate schools. Proprietary schools often are targeted during discussions of student loan defaults -- although it's important to note that they don't all have high default rates. Like private colleges, proprietary schools often charge higher tuition than public colleges.

The distinction between public and private colleges has become a little blurry, a trend ripe for news stories. Increasingly, private colleges receive government research contracts, student aid money and in a few states receive state subsidies outright. Meanwhile, public campuses, wanting to supplement their state subsidies, are conducting aggressive fund-raising campaigns to build their endowments and affiliating with businesses to market the fruits of campus research.

Gender/Ethnic-specific schools

Other distinctions among colleges are the gender, ethnicity and, at times, physical disabilities of their students. Higher education was limited to men until 1833, when Oberlin College in Ohio began admitting women. Five years later (1837-8) the forerunner of Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts became the first women's college. Now, most schools are coeducational, although about 100 women's colleges and a handful of men's colleges still exist. Gender-specificity was a hot issue in the mid-1990s, when federal courts ordered Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel, two public military colleges, to accept women.

Another large, important group is historically black colleges and universities. Often shortened to "HBCUs," this group includes about 100 public and private schools, many of which were started in Southern and border states when segregation was legal. Lawsuits filed to desegregate public colleges in this region have led to recent controversial orders, and this battle is expected to continue for some time. While many historically black schools are very secure financially, some smaller and less well known colleges are struggling.

Another growing segment of ethnic-identified schools is the Hispanic-serving colleges and universities. This is a designation assigned by the U.S. Department of Education and based on the percentage of Hispanic-students enrolled. Qualifying schools often are targeted for special funds and grants. As the nation's Hispanic population grows, this source of money is increasingly important to colleges and universities in states such as California, Texas and Florida.

Other institutions with identifiable ethnic enrollments include tribal colleges, founded to serve Native Americans.

(Updated from original report by Holly Stepp, a former higher education reporter for The Miami Herald and former education editor for The State.)

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