Over the last decade or so, private higher education for profit has exploded in North America, a trend that was thrown into hyperdrive by the 2008++ Great Recession.  In San Diego County alone, dozens of higher education options exist, on traditional campuses, on non-traditional campuses, in strip malls, and in hybrid/blended and online set-ups.  As recently published statistics are showing, too many of these options do not result in acceptable graduation rates, and many graduates cannot find commensurate employment in their chosen fields.  One dire consequence of these dismal failures is the growing borrower default rate on federal student loans, another is the waste in grant moneys.

The question one has to go back to asking is:  what makes for good post-secondary education?  While there has been excruciating debate in North America, and for that matter, world-wide, on what constitutes effective K-12 education - with often questionable and controversial results - insufficient attention has been paid adult education, assuming - wrongly, it seems - that the self-policing governing bodies and accreditation agencies were up to the job.

Back to our question: what makes for good post-secondary education?

Here are some reasonable suggestions and measurable goals to ponder:

• An earnest focus on, and return to, excellence in traditional, proven pedagogic methods (closed-book exams, anybody?)
• Meaningful, in-depth, practical curriculum developed with employment requirements in mind
• Empowered, well-qualified, reasonably-paid educators (without excessive reliance on underpaid, "road-warrior" adjuncts)
• Solid preparation in contemporary core skills in elementary and high school (from English to keyboarding, and not just an imbalanced attention to "math + sciences")
• A return to teaching students and expecting a modicum of self-discipline, hard work, and respect, not congratulating them for every non-achievement (no kiddie trophies for last place!)

And a few matters we should critically revisit:

• Dependence on centrally crafted course shells that reduce the role of professors to facilitators, leaving pedagogic content development to underpaid, inexperienced educational specialists concoting curriculum while cooped up in their cubicles
• The effectiveness of the current mainstream learning management systems, which really only offer rudimentary document management, email, messaging, and trite assessment tools
• Evaluating instructors primarily on the basis of how popular they are with their students, at the expense of academic rigor
• Assuming some form of accreditation alone is enough to consider an institution of good enough quality to grant access to federal loan funds to their students
• Truth in educational advertising

These few ideas implemented seriously and coscientiously can be the first steps to regaining our foothold in effective adult education.