{"id":2306,"date":"2015-05-05T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T14:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ssn\/?p=2306"},"modified":"2015-04-27T15:32:34","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T20:32:34","slug":"higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ssn\/2015\/05\/05\/higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Universal and Life-long Higher Education is the Next Step in Advancing the Social Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a century after John Dewey published the landmark book Democracy and Education<\/em>, the principles of learning he espoused for democratic societies are applicable to higher education. He saw education as the primary vehicle through which democracies develop socially responsible citizens, equipped with the knowledge, skills, and values to become full participants in the economy and democratic social order. By now it is clear that, in an increasingly complex and risk-filled world, all citizens require increasingly prolonged periods of learning beyond basic schooling. Higher education for all becomes a gateway to lifetimes of learning.<\/p>\n

The Rapid Transformation of Higher Education<\/h3>\n

For most of its 800 year history, higher education has progressed at an evolutionary pace, but changes have come at a faster pace in the past generation \u2013 not only in the United States but around the world. According to the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, the total number of students enrolled in higher education worldwide grew from 28 million in 1970 to 165 million in 2009 \u2013 and has been projected to reach 262 million by 2025. In the United States, meanwhile, higher education is in the midst of a veritable revolution, now serving as the main vehicle for lifelong learning.<\/p>\n

The expansion and transformation of higher education has been shaped from both the top down and bottom up, with government, communities, and businesses all serving as drivers of change:<\/p>\n