No, um, not precisely.
What a great, amazing piece of university video from Wesleyan.

I’m not Chicken Little, and this isn’t “the sky is falling” post that it’s title might imply. But when people write things critical of the industry of my occupation, well, I read those things.

As web workers in the higher ed arena, we all have a vested interest in the future our employers. The turmoil unleashed on the journalism sector and the music industry, precipitated by a tidal shift in the way people produce, consume, and pay for content, …has probably served to embolden a growing number of critics predicting a similar transformation in the university system.

I gave five minutes to Mr “marketing guru” as he made his case for a coming melt-down in higher education, and I read the Op Ed piece “The End the University as We Know It” from the New York times. There are other articles like this. Piles of them. Do I read them because I am a morbid pessimist? Or, am I simply cautious about a career in a higher ed landscape which (some say) could be drastically altered over the next ten years? Five years?

I don’t know. Who DOES know?

Regardless, back to the original purpose of this post, Tuesday night I will watch (and you should watch) PBS Frontline’s College Inc. which takes a hard look at the less traditional institutions providing alternative approaches to a growing number of college degree seekers. It should be interesting.

Higher education is a $400 billion industry fueled by taxpayer money. One of the fastest-growing–and most controversial–sectors of the industry is the for-profit colleges and universities. Unlike traditional colleges that raise money from wealthy alumni and other donors, many for-profit schools sell shares to investors on Wall Street. But what are students getting out of the deal? Critics say a worthless degree and a mountain of debt. Proponents insist they’re innovators, widening access to education. FRONTLINE follows the money to uncover how for-profit universities are transforming the way we think about college in America.

“In College, Inc., airing Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith investigates the promise and explosive growth of the for-profit higher education industry. Through interviews with school executives, government officials, admissions counselors, former students and industry observers, this film explores the tension between the industry—which says it’s helping an underserved student population obtain a quality education and marketable job skills—and critics who charge the for-profits with churning out worthless degrees that leave students with a mountain of debt.”