The Economic Prospects for American Higher Education. AGB/ACE Joint Report.

This paper assesses the level of resources to which colleges and universities might reasonably expect access over the next 30 years. It is organized in three sections. The first section examines some historical relationships between higher education and general economic trends. The second section projects resource levels available to higher education over the next 30 years based on various projections of macroeconomic conditions, public confidence levels, and enrollment growth. The final section describes how higher education might best prepare itself for the future, given the uncertainty over resources, and examines what higher education can do to affect both the future growth of the economy and the level of public confidence in the enterprise. College and university trustees and chief executives are called upon to do two things to prepare for the future: (1) plan strategically based on the wide range of possible resource levels that may be available in the future; and (2) give greater consideration to how institution or system resources can be increased, either by fueling economic growth or by taking steps to improve the level of public confidence in higher education. An appendix, which looks at the accuracy of past higher education forecasts, is provided that cautions about the fragility of these predictions. (Sixteen charts, tables, and graphs are provided.) (GLR)