Business and industry must be more part of the higher education conversation and more integrated. Our economy is knowledge-based, regardless of whether the industry is agriculture, manufacturing, service, technology, or health. Yet, our public post-secondary institutions are astonishingly underfunded by any measure-50th in the nation. Institutions nationally have increased tuition by 8 percent a year since the 1960s-50 years of twice the rate of inflation. Benefit costs exceed base compensation for many workers.
Like most infrastructure, failures appear decades after underinvestment. The NH Advantage where people went away to university, became high-income earners, and then resettled in NH is dead and we have to learn to grow our own local talent. Students and parents build huge debt loads (which survive bankruptcy) that rival the value of a house. Debt service and high New England housing costs help drive a financially astute student to urban areas or out West. How we fund and operate education has to change.
Education's model-its outcomes, delivery mechanisms, and financing models are flawed and space must be allowed for entrepreneurial change. We'll make mistakes along the way, but part of education is learning from your mistakes.
Jeremy Hitchcock is CEO of DYN in Manchester, an infrastructure-as-a-service provider. He is a trustee, advisor and/or past advisor for the Community College System of NH, University of NH Manchester, Chester College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. For more information, visit www.dyn.com.
Current Issue - May 2024