Jane S. Shaw of the Pope Center not only believes we’re headed for the bursting of the higher ed bubble, she’s waiting for it.

Why I Am a SuperBubble Hawk

A colleague at the Pope Center has sighted some interesting birds—“bubble hawks” and “bubble doves.” Using language from the Vietnam War (some of us remember that), he describes as “hawks” those who think the higher education bubble is likely to burst and as “doves” those who think that not much will change.

The “bubble,” of course, refers to the possibility that, as with housing, tuition will go up and up until people decide that the product is not worth the price. At that point, the customers (students) will stop buying. Enrollment will decline and college revenues will fall, bursting the balloon and putting vulnerable schools out of business.

That’s the hawkish version. Doves, on the other hand, think that there may be no bubble and, if there is, it will slowly deflate.

But then there are the “superbubble hawks,” who believe that the disruptive technology of online education will speed up and amplify the effects of the financial bubble, bringing change, both creative and destructive.

I’m one of those.

And so, too, it appears, is Jeffrey Selingo, editor at large of the Chronicle of Higher Education. While moderate in tone, his book College (Un)Bound sketches the landscape we might see after financial forces meet technological change, as education “unbundles” and students start inventing or “hacking” their own education.