The following factors should be considered with respect to changes in the higher education sector, partner organizations, marketplace competition and resource availability.
Competition for best-fit student and faculty/staff talent will continue.
More aggressive international student recruitment in foreign markets will be necessary.
Higher education's role in creating a more open and fair society is challenegd by the current populist tendency toward rejecting internationalism and globalization.
"Between 2007–2008 to 2015–2016, the number of international students in the United States increased by 67 percent to reach 1,043,839. At the same time, the economic benefits from the presence of international students on American campuses increased by 111 percent to reach US$32.8 billion. This clearly indicates that the financial contributions of international students have outpaced the
increase in enrollment." Are International Students “Cash Cows”? Rahul Choudaha, International Higher Education, 2017
Public opinion with respect to the value of higher education will continue to shift and evolve.
"For a Trump voter in an economically depressed area, the relative prosperity of a nearby public university may only serve to underscore broader frustrations with financial disparity and skepticism about the use of taxpayer dollars." A Humbling of Higher Ed, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/11/16
"Many people involved describe [leveraging vast amounts of buying power, political clout and research capacity to do permanent good] as a return to a time when higher education saw itself as contributing to the public interest rather than solely training students for careers." More universities and colleges reach out to boost their home communities, The Hechinger Report, 12/22/16
The model for institutional funding is evolving.
Increased need for state-of-the-art facilities to remain competitive.
"Public higher education is at a tipping point in the United States. It is an essential public good that is suffering from an unprecedented erosion of public support, with potentially devastating consequences for our students and our economy." After years of neglect, public higher education is at a tipping point, The Washington Post, 10/7/2016
The nature of university libraries, and how they serve campus community, is evolving.