✕
“Colleges Face a Reckoning.” “Is College Worth the Cost?” “Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low.” For decades, Americans have almost unquestionably equated college education as a pathway to a better life. But in news headlines and around kitchen tables, that truism recently has come under intense scrutiny. A survey conducted by Gallup this past summer reveals that people who rank college as “very important” or “important” represent a minority of the nation—a first in the organization’s 15 years of polling on the subject.
Photo © Mike Kelley
At the start of her tenure in 2020, DePauw University president Lori White launched a strategic planning process that would counter sinking public confidence in higher education. Contemplating the many reasons for the reputation decline, White and her colleagues at the Greencastle,…
