No Southern Comfort: Three Georgia Colleges and the New Normal in Higher Education

Abstract

American institutions of higher education currently face a myriad of new challenges as a result of recessions and larger macroeconomic issues. Current changes to the higher education landscape include: increased enrollments by underrepresented and non-traditional student populations; the emergence of an increasingly prominent for-profit sector of higher education; decreased state funding for higher education; increased tuition costs; the need to balance teaching and research; lingering questions surrounding accountability and governance, and reductions in need-based financial aid to students. In short, colleges and universities are being asked to do more with less thus creating a new normal state of existence for higher education. This article traces three Georgia colleges (Georgia State University, Georgia Perimeter College, and Agnes Scott College) through the circumstances and challenges presented by the new normal state of higher education. Suggestions surrounding how each college might continue to navigate difficult circumstances are offered. Issues such as completion, student debt, diversity, performance-based funding, tuition policy, accountability, globalization, and college readiness are discussed within the context of each institution and within the greater need to increase quality at a time where institutional resources are increasingly scant.