Certainly, this is true of universities. In western civilizations, universities are second only to the Church in terms of institutional longevity. They have served us well. However, the structure of higher education is in transition. All universities will exist in a new type of marketplace, primarily brought about by the information technology revolution.
Competition is now global.
The ability to communicate with every quarter of the world over the Internet has given new wings to the mobility of intellectual capital. The best information, the brightest faculty, and the most effective coursework can be accessed from anywhere on the planet. Therefore, the quality standard that is set is not what may be best in the state, region, or even the nation, but what is best in the world. Coping with change to survive is normativeexcept that now it comes at lightning speed. Interestingly, it was the change of the Civil War era that gave rapid rise to land-grant universities.