The Most Innovative People in Higher Education

Higher education has been called the least innovative sector of the American economy. But that may be changing. Some colleges and universities are finding inventive ways of providing more students of modest means with quality degrees at affordable prices. Driving these improvements are administrators, faculty members, researchers, nonprofit advocates, and for-profit entrepreneurs with fresh ideas, a willingness to push against institutional resistance, and virtually no profile among the broader public. But with voters increasingly angry at rising tuition and growing inequality of opportunity, conditions are becoming ripe for the innovators to take charge.

Join New America and the Washington Monthly for a panel discussion with some of the most innovative people in higher education, as featured in the Washington Monthly’s newly-released 2016 College Guide and Rankings.

Featured panelists included Charles Isbell, Professor and Senior Associate Dean, Georgia Institute of Technology; Bridget Burns, Executive Director, University Innovation Alliance; Amy Laitinen, Director for Higher Education, Education Policy program, New America; Jamie P. Merisotis, President and CEO, Lumina Foundation; and, Paul Glastris, Editor in Chief, Washington Monthly.