評論
打印
Current Challenges Confronting U.S. Higher Education
當前美國高等教育面臨的挑戰
Good morning, everyone. In our last lecture, we discussed challenges that face universities and colleges worldwide.
大家早上好。 在上一講中，我們討論了世界各地大學面臨的挑戰。
Today we'll take a special look at U.S. higher education and see what challenges U.S. higher education is facing.
今天我們將特別關注美國高等教育，看看美國高等教育面臨著什么挑戰。
OK, let's get started.
好的，我們開始吧。
The first challenge we are examining in today's lecture is the force of the marketplace on higher education.
今天我們要討論的第一個挑戰是市場對高等教育的影響。
Many people believe that the marketplace has overtaken state government as the dominant external force shaping and reshaping American higher education, even for public colleges and universities.
許多人認為，市場已經取代州政府，成為塑造和重塑美國高等教育的主要外部力量，甚至對公立學院和大學也是如此。
You may ask, why is it so?
你可能會問，為什么會這樣?
Well, as is always the case, government support is not keeping pace with educational expenditures.
嗯，一如既往，政府的資助跟不上教育支出的步伐。
So in many ways, the market is having more bearing on higher education than government.
因此，在很多方面，市場比政府對高等教育的影響更大。
In order to create more flexibility, many public colleges and universities are now asking for less government regulation and supervision.
為了創造更多的靈活性，許多公立學院和大學現在要求政府減少監管和監督。
In some instances, they are even asking for less state money in return for more autonomy.
在某些情況下，他們甚至要求更少的政府資金以換取更多的自治權。
And their argument is that the current structures and accountability requirements have hindered their capacity to be effective and efficient.
他們的論點是，當前的結構和問責要求阻礙了他們發揮效力和效率的能力。
The ability to set their own tuition fees and secure freedom from state policies and regulations in areas such as purchasing and building represent just some of the additional autonomy that public institutions are seeking.
自行設定學費的能力，以及在購買和建造房屋等領域不受國家政策和法規的限制，只是公共學院尋求的額外自主權的一部分。
And many are pressing for new legislation to provide this freedom through a range of innovations, including public corporations, charter colleges, state enterprise status, and performance contracts.
許多大學機構正迫切要求新的立法，通過一系列創新提供這種自由，包括公共公司、特許大學、國有企業地位和績效合同。
So what is the result of these efforts?
那么，這些努力的結果是什么?
Well, the result is that activities and research in certain fields and disciplines, for example, engineering, applied natural science, and agricultural science, become higher institutional priorities because they have stronger market value than other programs such as humanities do.
其結果是，某些領域和學科的活動和研究，例如工程、應用自然科學和農業科學，成為更高的大學機構優先考慮的項目，因為它們比其他項目(如人文學科)具有更強的市場價值。
So what has happened is that institutions create new programs, alter academic calendars, and pursue different financial aid policies to capture more and better students—in particular those who can afford to pay high tuition.
所以，現在的情況是，學校創造了新的項目，改變了校歷，追求不同的財政援助政策，以吸引更多更好的學生——尤其是那些付得起高額學費的學生。
For instance, executive MBA programs are increasingly popular.
例如，高級工商管理碩士課程越來越受歡迎。
Also, institutions seek contracts and partnership agreements, and enhance research programs with practical applications that have large financial payouts.
此外，研究機構尋求合同和合作協議，并加強研究項目的實際應用，有大量的財政支出。
In order to do so, they are changing their institutional structures.
為此，它們正在改變其體制結構。
