The leadership advantage of higher education is no longer a given in America. This is something brought to my attention through the recent writings of Brian C. Mitchell, director of Edvance Foundation. In his piece, “Rethinking Public Perception of Higher Education”, Mitchell contends that American Society no longer accepts the status and prestige  as a given. Well, that’s a problem which must be solved and where better to solve it than  higher education.

Now it appears that along with colleges and universities attracting that right mix of students, higher education must reclaim the language which characterizes what institutions do. Mitchell describes this as promise and potential. I would argue that it already exists. It just needs to be voiced and illustrated. He really has a point when he says, “Colleges and universities must explain better what they do while working more efficiently and creatively to do so.”

So much of what keeps our country competitive comes as a result of American Higher Education. It is the aspirations and possibilities nourished in college which become the next great idea. The photograph at the top of this page reminds me that higher education is opportunity.