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The professor went on to drum into us that this was a defense of the liberal arts and of learning for its own sake. As an economics and English undergraduate from a college of arts and sciences, this resonated. Yet, perhaps because economics is sometimes found in a business school, it didn’t fully sit well, also in part because until 1944, mostly people of means went to college, and in light of other historians of higher education, most notably John Thelin, who had this to say in his 2004 book, A History of American Higher Education:
Going to college was not a prerequisite to the practice of the learned professions. Learning often took place outside the academy in various forms of apprenticeship. So why did people attend college? It was about prestige, status, and civic leadership/power.
After World War II and the game-changing GI Bill, college enrollments exploded with young adults of varying means, solidifying the notion of “college” as something they needed to do after high school if they were to have access to the best opportunity. Thankfully, a boom in post-war babies that extended to the early 1960s, and Sputnik, provided the post-GI fuel that kept the traditional-aged pipeline flowing, at least for a while.
There is an obvious reason why continuing one’s education right after high school makes sense. Yet, as the President and I have said, that is not the growth opportunity—adults are. As I write this piece (Sunday, October 30), 40 percent of our total student body is enrolled in WP Online, with an average age of approximately 35 for undergraduates and about the same for graduates. Two-and-a-half years ago, it was 0 percent. Although I have no statistics to prove it, that’s likely the fastest growth of adult students of any New Jersey institution, perhaps one of the fastest in the country. Simply put, the model is working, we are in a lucrative growth market given the density of our area, and we are negotiating with our external partner to strengthen our return.
The emergent terrain, however, is expanding our portfolio of for-credit and not-for-credit offerings that are something less than a degree. Adults without a degree want one, but they also want something of shorter length that serves a distinct purpose—to stay current in their job, to expand their marketability, to change fields, to contribute in new ways to slowing global warming, to combat illiteracy, to counter social media misinformation, to make the world more equitable and just. While such things do come in degrees, they can be through alternative or micro-credentials, and come in different forms, typically badges or certificates. We are not neophytes to these things here at WP, but we need to expand into this space purposefully and expeditiously, and the Strategic Plan is the means of getting there. Resources, such as those from the Council for Credential Innovation and other institutions that are leading on this front, can guide us. And, there’s opportunity for both academic and non-academic units to be involved and in alignment with national career ready competencies. On December 1 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m, we are participating in a national webinar entitled, Micro-Credentials and Badges 101: The Essential Foundational Blocks to Initiate & Build a Successful Program, with one of the leaders in this space, the University at Buffalo (SUNY). More information to come and anyone in the University community is invited to attend.
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