Changing a State University for Tomorrow

Public universities in the United States produce more than 70 percent of all baccalaureate degree recipients as well as conducting nearly two-thirds of all federally funded research. It is these institutions that educate the majority of American students in a milieu that advances discovery and innovation while contributing to the development of a highly skilled workforce and the prosperity of our economy. But the infrastructure of American higher education remains little changed from the mid-twentieth century and is unable to accommodate projected enrollment demands at scale. Our leading institutions increasingly define their excellence through admissions practices based on exclusion. In order to address the needs of students with different levels of academic preparation and differing types of potential, America’s colleges and universities require greater differentiation as well as new models that integrate excellence with access.

Design limitations inherent in colleges and universities obstruct scientific advancement and technological innovation but also impede organizational innovation as well as productive collaboration with other institutions and business, industry, and government. While American research universities retain global leadership in discovery and innovation, their capacity to mount adequate responses at scale and in real time to the grand challenges before us is diminished by progressive ossification. Mired in bureaucratic structures and social constructs that serve primarily to perpetuate existing academic infrastructure, these institutions remain internally adaptive when they should instead be leading societal adaptation to the accelerating complexity that has become our default condition.

The decade-long reconceptualization (2002–2012) of Arizona State University (ASU), the nation’s youngest major research institution and largest university governed by a single administration, serves as a case study in institutional innovation. As the foundational model for the “New American University,” ASU is committed to academic excellence, access to a broad demographic, and maximum societal impact. To advance teaching and research, ASU has produced a federation of unique colleges, schools, and transdisciplinary research centers and a clustering of programs on each of four differentiated campuses. The institution focuses on transforming the quality of life and economic competitiveness of Arizona and the American Southwest even as its academic community searches for solutions to the grand challenges confronting humanity.