Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, used to exclaim, “Everything flows, nothing stands still.” It is the same story with colleges. Ten years ago, colleges were a whole lot different than today’s.

Listed below are some of the notable changes in colleges and universities:

• Enrollments’ rapid increase. In 1999, approximately 15 million students enrolled in American colleges and universities. Today it has increased to four million more.
• Increased government subsidy. As tuition fees increase, a whole number of new tax advantages have come out, like the student loan interest deduction, the tuition and fees deduction, the lifetime learning credit, and the Hope credit.
• New statistics. At most schools, the male-female ratio is almost 60-40. Students over the age of 25 make up 40% of the school’s population. There is also a broader mix of people like foreign students, minority students, returning students and first generation students.
• Sudden increase in Community colleges. Community colleges are thriving, with new ones springing up all over the place. Over 40% of U.S. college students now enroll at community/junior and/or two-year colleges. Previously, community colleges drew in students who were interested in getting associate degrees or some college experience before transferring to four-year colleges. Now, even those taking up four-year courses are beginning to cross over to community colleges.
• Online conveniences. A couple of prominent schools have put up selected courses at sites that are free and considered “OpenCourseWare” sites. Students actually get to work with first-class professors in their own living rooms with no charge.
• FYE (First-Year Experience) courses. Before, first-year students had to find their own means of staying afloat at the university. But now, in order to curb the high rates in student dropouts, many colleges have come up with new small-group classes led by regular faculty members. This is especially true for new students and freshmen.
• More “E-resources. Nowadays, professors are able to order textbooks in electronic form, according to their specifications. The professors can actually decide which chapters they want included in the textbooks. In addition to this, courses normally have Web pages of their own, and this is where the students can get information regarding the course syllabus or the lectures. Chatting with fellow course takers and the professor is also possible.