Time to Get Real About Tuition

David Bushman, president of Bridgewater College (VA), writes: That higher education is facing a moment of crisis is widely understood. A perfect storm of conditions—a lack of confidence in voices of authority, incivility in discourse, the economic fragility of students and families, and a craving for immediate return on investment—has fostered a cynicism in the public that has persuaded many that a college degree is simply no longer worth it. Worse, we in higher ed have been complicit in reinforcing that conclusion through the opaque high-tuition/high-discount pricing model that is nearly ubiquitous in private higher education.