No Southern Comfort: Three Georgia Colleges and the New Normal in Higher Education

Abstract

American institutions of higher education currently face a myriad of new challenges as a
result of recessions and larger macroeconomic issues. Current changes to the higher
education landscape include: increased enrollments by underrepresented and non-traditional
student populations; the emergence of an increasingly prominent for-profit sector of higher
education; decreased state funding for higher education; increased tuition costs; the need to
balance teaching and research; lingering questions surrounding accountability and
governance, and reductions in need-based financial aid to students. In short, colleges and
universities are being asked to do more with less thus creating a new normal state of
existence for higher education. This article traces three Georgia colleges (Georgia State
University, Georgia Perimeter College, and Agnes Scott College) through the circumstances
and challenges presented by the new normal state of higher education. Suggestions
surrounding how each college might continue to navigate difficult circumstances are offered.
Issues such as completion, student debt, diversity, performance-based funding, tuition policy,
accountability, globalization, and college readiness are discussed within the context of each
institution and within the greater need to increase quality at a time where institutional
resources are increasingly scant.