Education
Higher Education
Do American universities have an obligation to educate their students to be the next generation of citizens and civic leaders? What does it mean for a university “to offer students an education that will promote their flourishing as human beings, their judgment as moral agents, and their participation in society as democratic citizens”? Join a workshop with leaders from th...
With students learning in more places and different ways than we have ever seen, the pace of change in education is dizzying. Join our panel of education experts in a discussion about what the classroom of the future will look like, how educational innovation can bridge divides, and how we can work together to get there. Presented by the Walton Family Foundation
In this new Aspen Ideas format, all attendees gather each morning to kick off the day by exploring a current issue of deep complexity. This year, the Supreme Court is once again considering the constitutionality of race-based affirmative action programs, and its ruling may have a profound impact on the makeup of America’s most selective colleges and universities. How sh...
Why is there resistance to the idea that public funds should be used for art? What does it mean for the stewardship of cultural and educational organizations and the support of individual artists? And how does the relationship between non-profit and commercial culture impact how we value the creative sector?
Higher education was once one of our most trusted sectors in American society. But today, colleges and universities are struggling to hold onto that trust. Accused of being educationally ineffective, too expensive, obsessed with their own elitism, inept at dealing well with the explosion of depression and anxiety among their students — the list of criticisms is long. Many...
The nursing crisis is a healthcare crisis. Reports across the country are ominous –70% of nurses are reporting burnout, 32% are considering leaving the profession, hospital RN vacancy rates are 19% and accelerating. And the pipeline for new nurses is choked – nursing educators are leaving in droves, resulting in 80,000 highly-qualified prospective students being turned awa...
Schools of nursing, medicine, and public health are attracting applicants in record numbers and admiration for these professionals has never been higher. At the same time, many workers—burned out, burdened by debt, and facing mental health challenges—are fleeing the field. Given the appeal, the stress, and the vital nature of healthcare jobs, we need to understand how best...
Americans now owe a staggering $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, according to Forbes. With growing online opportunities catered to self-taught learners and the ever-evolving digital nature of work in the modern world, do we still need to sit in classrooms to get a college education? Are companies and government institutions rethinking the long-standing requirement of a f...
US higher education is challenged by several dynamic forces: Americans are less likely than in the past to attend college, but those who do are more diverse. Costs and debt are rising — as is mistrust of higher education. And the skills needed to succeed in the workforce are evolving rapidly as technology advances. Can the nation’s 4,000 colleges and universities succeed b...
Last month the University of Chicago started the first School of Molecular Engineering in the United States. If the university world had the equivalent of a venture backed unicorn, this might well be the role model. Starting with an idea, Bob Zimmer worked with his faculty to conceptualize an effort around designing and building from the molecular level up. Starting at...
The University of Chicago has just announced new funding to expand access to a broader talent pool of well-deserving applicants, ending requirements to send in scores for ACT and SAT tests. The College Board has revised the SAT to emphasize classroom study and offers free practice tests through top online-ed site Khan Academy, to give every student the opportunity to prepa...
What is a university if not a true marketplace of ideas — a place where scholarly pursuits in history, science, literature, philosophy, art, and mathematics can be nurtured and questioned, where crosscurrents of diverse thought and perspectives can co-exist? Today, students are challenged by the notion of an open society, tested on the one hand by values of free expressio...
Far too many students in the United States and around the world face challenges when seeking a quality education; this untapped potential is a waste of societal and economic resources. In this session, education and civil society leaders will talk about their efforts to engage underserved and refugee youth, and their successes and failures in helping those youth overcome b...
The Aspen College Excellence Program aims to expand the number of excellent community colleges, to increase opportunity at elite colleges, and to strengthen the college presidency. Get to know the Aspen Institute’s higher education strategy through a fireside chat between two experts who are well-versed in this field. Q&A moderated by Tania LaViolet.
The 21st century brings with it unprecedented global uncertainty, interconnectedness, and unimaginable opportunity. Yet many students in the United States and around the world complete their formal education with insufficient tools to navigate this new world. This session examines some of the foundational skills, acquired through traditional and innovative means, that youn...
Wharton professor Adam Grant and inspirational teacher Simon Sinek come together for a lively discussion and debate. They’ll cover what drives people at work, whether generational differences really make a difference, and the effects of the digital world on productivity and creativity.
Escalating costs of higher education are driving some colleges and universities to rethink their business models. Demographic changes are reshaping student populations. Job pressures for newly minted college graduates are fierce, challenging curriculum and budgets. And politicians are wringing their hands as other countries are improving education outcomes more quickly...
In this season of campus activism around race, inclusion, speech, and privilege, how can US colleges best cultivate—and reimagine—civic leadership? And in an age that rewards "gold stars" and visible achievement, how can universities best cultivate character and an ethic of intrinsic purpose among leaders?
Is America turning its back on the humanities? The evidence seems real when we see declining enrollments in the studies of arts, history, literature, language, and philosophy at colleges and universities across the country. Declining enrollments preface limited budgets for broad areas of inquiry as the promise of STEM curricula woos students to jobs and career paths. I...
Since the end of World War II, the United States has dramatically expanded access to a college education so that, today, approximately two out of every three Americans pursues a higher education. Still, many groups remain largely excluded, and even among those who do go, where a student starts college has become increasingly tied to their wealth and that of their families....