HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: A Gloomy Poll of College Officers.

Jane Wellman, who is no alarmist, and whose work with the Delta Cost Project is very highly regarded, thinks that colleges and universities are by and large flailing. Wellman, now with the College Futures Foundation says, “all of the signals are that this is a sector that is in trouble. Yet the kind of things that would better position institutions for the long haul probably aren’t happening.”

Indeed, the survey indicates that the primary strategy colleges and universities are following is to try to increase enrollment. That’s understandable, since increasing enrollment and revenue is necessary for some institutions even to run in place, let alone improve. But in a field in which prospective students who are willing and able to pay are increasingly scarce, only so many colleges and universities can win at that game.

Hey, who could have seen this coming?