By Father William J. Byron, SJ | Catholic News Service

Change is affecting higher education. It might be happening right now or sometime soon, or it might have begun in the recent past. Something is happening in response to the pressure of rising prices and mounting student debt. In about 20 years, historians of higher education will look back and see something in our day that we cannot see altogether clearly now.

There are more females than males in college now. There are many more two-year community colleges than there were 30 years ago, but fewer community-college students are completing their degrees.

The poor are underrepresented in college classrooms and yet the correlation between a college degree and increased personal income is clearer now than before.

Online higher education is something relatively new. Massive open online courses, or MOOCs, are available for free from elite universities, but most students apparently dabble in them -- enrolling but not completing a given course. For-profit universities have multiplied in the past decade.

As I say, something is happening but the shape of change is not yet clear.

The higher education experience has long been associated with an on-the-ground physical place -- urban, suburban or rural. Campus is a word that connotes lawns and walkways, even though many urban campuses look more like brickyards than gardens.

Whatever the future holds, it is highly probable that identifiable physical space (with the related costs of construction and maintenance) will be an enduring element of higher education. "Old Main" will just get older and not disappear.

The college experience has typically involved a four-year commitment to a commuter or residential arrangement. Who knows whether more or fewer students will live at home, in dorms or in private off-campus housing in the years ahead.

Whereas years ago, parents paid tuition, students sometimes "worked their way through" with the benefit of on- or off-campus jobs. Summertime employment helped. Merit or need-based scholarship assistance was available and, of course, student loans, private or government-funded programs, were part of the picture. But that picture is changing.

It might just happen that a GI Bill type of higher-educational benefit may become associated with voluntary civilian community service, thus facilitating access to higher education for service veterans.

I suspect that the trimester will become more popular, allowing students and faculty to "stop out" when they wish for vacation time. Because part-time employment internships improve post-graduation employment prospects, I would not be surprised to see a four-day academic week with one day each week devoted to off-campus work.

Nor would I be surprised to see a rise in "blended learning" that would involve faculty-displacing online instruction (thus reducing costs) while preserving some contact with a faculty mentor and significant peer interaction on campus.

Libraries and laboratories will continue to play an important role in higher education, but powerful technology will modify and multiply options for access.

Without new ideas and creative cooperative arrangements, along with the ability to communicate persuasively, leadership in higher education will be unable to lead. Change is on its way. The question is: Who will make it happen?

Jesuit Father Byron is university professor of business and society at St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia. Email: [email protected].