Unbundling higher education.

AuthorHood, John
PositionFREE&CLEAR

When university of North Carolina leaders announced in September the formation of a committee to study the system's strategic direction, the usual suspects said the usual things. Because it included business leaders and political conservatives, liberals cried foul. Because it included many current and former university employees, chancellors and board members, critics feared another bout of navel-gazing by academic insiders. Because it included only one sitting professor, faculty leaders warned of outsiders interfering in academic matters. Democrats questioned the presence of prominent Republicans. Republicans questioned the presence of prominent Democrats.

Perhaps an initial round of debate about the shape of the table was inevitable. Now can we call it a draw and move on to the real issues? The future of higher education in North Carolina is at stake, as is the growth and vitality of the state economy. The committee is studying issues concerning the design, costs and benefits of university programs. One way to ponder those questions is to pose this fundamental one: How should the UNC system respond to the Great Unbundling of higher education?

The death of the bundle is, by now, a familiar story. In communications, what used to be monopoly providers of telephony, cable television and mail delivery saw their lucrative bundles of services untied by technological and regulatory change. First, consumers gained the ability to choose from competing providers of long-distance phone service and package delivery. Then mobile phones and online service undercut the necessity of landlines, as email and social media did letters, and telephone and cable companies began invading each other's turfs. One of the most profitable bundled services, Yellow Pages, went from indispensable tool to disposable doorstop.

The newspaper industry went through its own Great Unbundling. Before the online era, whether you were a job seeker after the want ads, a homebuyer after the real-estate listings, a cartoon fan after the funny pages or a sports fan after the box scores, you had to buy the entire bundle. Advertisers paid a premium for the privilege of placing their messages inside it. But once searchable websites and other tools broke up the newspaper bundle, the industry's revenue model collapsed.

Unbundling is under way in a host of fields, many of them services such as the practice of law and delivery of medical care. Consumers are increasingly empowered to buy the...

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