From neoliberalism to authoritarianism: higher education’s challenges

Higher education faces many challenges in the current climate. Some of these challenges are not new; the face of neoliberalism has been a part of higher education for a few decades, as colleges and universities have sought to fit within the model of late capitalism. The message of market capitalism has been a component of the structure of schools as they have sought to position themselves within a fiscal setting. More recently, there have been tendencies toward authoritarianism, as some colleges and universities have attempted to limit some freedoms and faculty and others. A potential remedy for the present state of affairs is attention to genuine liberalism, in which freedom is of the utmost concern.