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The American Çï¿ûÊÓƵ of Arts and Sciences convened its annual Higher Education Forum in June 2024 in Aspen, Colorado. An area of focus for the cross-sector meeting was how to bridge differences and build consensus on the hard topics facing schools. The Forum included more than one hundred higher education experts and leaders, including leaders from Çï¿ûÊÓƵ Affiliates, Çï¿ûÊÓƵ members, and attendees from higher education institutions, professional associations, philanthropy, business, law firms, and media. Attendees represented a wide variety of institutional leadership positions including current and former presidents, provosts, deans, heads of organizations, faculty members, trustees, and more. 

Over three days, attendees engaged in conversations around: free speech, artificial intelligence, pathways after high school, innovation and the future of higher education, financial models, intercollegiate athletics, liberal education in illiberal times, education in a global democracy, democratic engagement and economic connectedness, science and technology, the future of the humanities, and climate change and sustainability. In today’s fractured environment, where the value proposition of higher education is in decline, the Forum offered space for higher education stakeholders to speak candidly about problems and think boldly about solutions. Attendees had much to discuss based on their experiences of finishing the recent academic year following the June 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision on banning race-based affirmative action in college admissions, and in anticipation of the upcoming election cycle. [The meeting was held under Chatham House Rule to encourage candid conversations.]

There was significant emphasis on the need to build consensus across the higher education sector and to work collectively to strengthen civic engagement. Discussions included experiences of recent polarization on campuses, intolerance of viewpoint diversity, and fear-induced self-censorship. Regarding how higher education institutions can facilitate productive conversations across differences, one attendee made a distinction between academic freedom and free speech and underscored the unique challenge of reinforcing education and truth.

Another attendee emphasized that the most urgent challenges in education can be moments of opportunity; the sector continues to recover and navigate the losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing student mental health crisis, decline in enrollment rates, FAFSA reform, artificial intelligence changing the value of skills needed, and students’ demands and needs for greater support. Attendees considered the relevance of higher education to global democracy because many world leaders have been educated in U.S. and European systems. Higher education leaders spoke of how institutions can drive debates on combating threats to democracy and higher education by emphasizing the benefits for individuals and society as a whole. 

The Çï¿ûÊÓƵ is grateful to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Lumina Foundation, TIAA, Bank of America Private Bank, Barclays, BrandEd, Kaplan, Inc., and United Educators for their support of the Higher Education Forum and the effort to provide leadership and learning on pressing issues in higher education with a cross-disciplinary and cross-sector approach.