Are universities even needed?

The reputations of our universities have taken a hit in the media in the past few weeks. Massey, after Don Brash was uninvited to speak on campus; Victoria University of Wellington over banning a vulnerable student from a halls of residence; and Otago, after the proctor had to apologise for removing bongs from student flats.

Universities are just not the lofty ivory towers they once were. And not only has the public been questioning the behaviour of some of them, but many of us are also wondering about their relevance.

Radical disruption, technological developments and globalisation are having an enormous impact on universities. Currently our kids are still churning through three and four-year degrees and saddling themselves with massive debts. Will they really get a return on their investment?

I was disturbed, but not surprised, by recent Deloitte research which said current training will lose half its value within 21⁄2 years due to rapid change. I question the point of a degree which loses half its relevance before you’ve even finished.

The tertiary world is increasingly competitive. There has been massive growth in the number of universities worldwide and the variety of courses on offer, including new, highly resourced institutions being set up in emerging economies.

Universities are a high-cost business and most have been trying to reduce expenses while still being required to invest in being relevant.

At the same time some forms of education have never been so cheap. Across the world smart universities are providing cheaper options and ‘‘loss leaders’’ such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course), where brands like Harvard, Berkeley and Stanford offer free courses online – you pay only if you want the qualification at the end.

More recently there’s been the introduction of the accelerated educational experience called a micro-degree, where students can enhance their current skills or gain a totally new qualification in a few short months through online study.

Why would you spend three to four years getting an undergraduate qualification when you could get a micro-degree online from Stanford or Harvard in a few months and spend much less?

This is all very relevant in our house, where I’m watching my teenage children trying to make choices while drowning in university marketing. I know if they make a traditional choice and head to university, they’ll no doubt be drowning in debt in a few years. In the UK, it’s predicted two-thirds of students will never pay off their student loan.

Until now, we’ve mostly believed the economic return on investment of time and money in a normal degree is good, but with all these new options it’s getting more difficult to believe that.

One of the basics of marketing is to ensure your product meets the needs of your market. I’m less and less convinced our universities are properly equipped to adapt to constant rapid changes.

New Zealand universities have talked ad nauseam about the need for change, but there’s little sign they’ve done anything fundamentally different to prepare, and prepare others, for a very different future.

The reality is universities still have an essential role to play as research institutions. We need their good research to help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. The issues that have hit the media over the last few weeks are small compared with the fundamental problems these institutions are facing.

To make sure they continue to contribute to our future, universities first need to solve some significant problems they are facing in the present.