Higher education was in crisis. Now it is in full tailspin, under sustained aggressive frontal attack. By congress and by the White House, yes. But what we often also fail to recognize is that it is also under attack by our communities and by a large proportion of the American population.

I live in Alabama. Many of my neighbors and friends lean conservative if not outright right wing. We all work hard to follow one of the fundamental tenets of Southern social graces – no discussing politics, religion… and, quite often, collegiate football, at our social gatherings.

The second largest employer in the state is the University of Alabama at Birmingham, after Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, and which received over $400 million in NIH funds in 2024. Vital funding that is now being threatened. Yet our community and our elected officials have said little in support of the university and its funding. Why?

Many of us in higher education struggle to understand what has gone wrong. Why has our nation, built on science and education, apparently become anti-science and anti-education? Are all the millions upon millions that support the current administration simply wrong? Or worse?

As we continue to forecast the future of our sector, we believe it would be very helpful to understand why this is happening. And why are we getting so little support from our communities and our elected officials. Partisanship? Likely. Fear of retribution? Also likely. But to understand what the future of higher ed in America is shaping to be and how we should respond, we also need to better understand the psyche of many Americans.

First, it may be instructive to try and understand why the American public has lost faith in another fundamental bastion of social good – Public Health. It is true that public health has always been less valued in the United States than it is in other countries. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic, and its myriad mitigation policies that impacted the day-to-day activities of millions of individual Americans and their communities, created the perfect storm to destroy much of the limited trust that existed in U.S. public health. Distrust that often resulted from the clash between the American values of personal autonomy and local independence, which many consider to be fundamental principles in our federated nation, and federal mandates. Distrust that has now boiled over into open anger and destruction.

As a health care practitioners, we have struggled to understand why so few have valued the thousands of lives saved during the pandemic. But the reality is that many of us in academia and in public health have simply failed to recognize, and appreciate, the high price communities and individuals paid for these strategies. In deficient preK-12 education, small business obliteration, and the emotional and mental health effects of isolation and anxiety, to mention a few. A recent guest essay in the New York Times offers an instructional perspective on why so many Americans have turned against public health, its science, and its agents, including the CDC, the NIH, the NSF. To address our trust deficit in public health we need to begin by recognizing and understanding the concerns of millions of Americans as legitimate. As much as some of us do not want to do so.

But why is the bullseye on higher education? A sector that has provided so many individuals with a better life and greater life-long earning? Because it is a sector that has also created massive debt for many Americans. That has continued to expand and acquire debt despite there being massive excess capacity. That has furthered inequities between those that have been able to complete their education and the millions that were either unable, unwilling, or simply not capable of either attending or finishing college. And a sector that is often is seen to espouse values contrary to that of many Americans. If we are to succeed in preserving what many of us believe is an incredibly valuable national and global asset and competitive advantage, we must do better to understand the current anger against higher education.

The United States, indeed, much of the Western world is experiencing significant societal change. The superficial manifestations of this change are most clearly seen in the political arena, but major structural change is being required from the enterprise of higher education.

A presupposition that has been left largely tacit is that major structural change in higher education requires initiative from within the establishment, more specifically from presidents, chancellors, or board members. However, we should recognize that the times have changed – demands for major structural and cultural change will come to you, whether you want it or not. Moreover, major structural change will not be enough. Mayor cultural change will also be required. 

We should recognize that something deeper is occurring. The mood of the country has changed.

The U.S. was built on indomitable will and a commitment to a belief in progress. However, the mood of the American culture has taken a hard turn to pessimism. The faith of the community in its own institutions has been decimated. Governmental institutions, perhaps most of all, have come to be distrusted. Religious institutions are struggling for survival. And, relevant to our train of thought, much of the Institution of higher education have lost the confidence the citizenry once gave it. 

No longer is the North American continent seen as infinite – in which one may always pick up and heed the advice to “go West”. No longer does the “rags to riches” narrative ring true in the U.S. No longer are the U.S. armed forces seen as invincible. No longer is higher education seen as a sure road to happiness and prosperity. And higher education, rightly or not, is seen as culpable for the undermining of these truisms.

The notion that education and specifically higher education is foundational for culture is not a new one. Alexis De Tocqueville in his famous “Democracy in America” argued throughout the book that education is foundational for democracy. The stated mission of many institutions of higher ed has for many decades been the inculcation of democratic values.  But a new wind is sweeping over the U.S., and its higher education industry will require major structural and cultural change.

The higher education industry in the U.S. is massively overbuilt, attributable perhaps to American ebullience and possessiveness, where “every community wanted one”. Their own college, their own university. This out-sized capacity has caused institutions within the industry to aggressively compete with one another – often on amenities and not on educational excellence or cost-reduction. Further, the wide-spread practice of tuition discounting, and a general unwillingness to publish the real cost of an education, leads many (most?) to believe that higher education is disguising and obfuscating what the actual burden will be.

Further, there is an increasing mismatch between the cultural orientation of higher education and the society which it serves. The American culture at large has historically had a strong utilitarian orientation while within the academy, a more philosophical and contemplative culture prevails. A disparity that has contributed to the loss of confidence in higher education and is being strongly accentuated by recent changes in politics and mood. Unfortunately, efforts to establish better alignment of cultures have, here-to-fore, been largely unsuccessful.

It is time to pay the fiddler. Approximately an institution of higher education closes permanently each week. Financial exigency is widespread. Merger and acquisition activity is increasing. Largely unplanned major downsizing is already underway in all, but the 150, or so, of the largest institutions. Of particular note are the observations that major change will be thrust upon us, that higher ed is overbuilt, and that there is a cultural mismatch between higher ed and the current mood of America.

To address what is happening in higher education today, leaders most recognize and understand the critical change in culture and mood occurring in the U.S. today. Not just in the vaunted halls of academia, but in the streets and homes of millions of Americans across our great nation. And they must be willing to explore major and difficult institutional restructuring options, such partnerships and mergers, and even closures.

Higher education leadership must change to address our changing society and our sector’s changing needs. Our new book ‘Leading Existential Change in Higher Ed: Mergers, Closures and Other Major Institutional Restructuring’ (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025) presents seven requisite competencies for those who would lead major structural change in higher education. Addressing the current crisis and loss of trust will need to leverage several of these competencies.

We must be willing to embrace the need for significant structural and cultural change in our sector and in our leaders. Because if we do not, we will continue to plunge downward in the tailspin we are in.

To learn more about SPH Consulting Group and how we can help your organization, contact office@sphconsultinggroup.com.

Writer: Lloyd Jacobs, Consultant, SPH Consulting Group

© SPH Consulting Group 2025