How Universities Can Avert Decline

U.S. research universities—particularly public universities—are on the edge of a fiscal cliff that threatens their international dominance in science and technology, finds a new National Research Council report. “Research Universities and the Future of America” lays out 10 ways the federal government, states, industry, and the universities themselves can help universities maintain their global competitiveness. For example, the report says, the federal government can start by improving the stability of research funding, streamlining costly regulations, and creating strategic initiatives to support young scientists and build research infrastructure. States should as soon as possible return to previous funding levels and loosen requirements to help universities cut costs. And universities themselves need to cut costs and improve their fiscal administration, the report notes. Industry can do its part by helping universities design graduate programs that allow students to finish quickly and with a clearly defined path to a job, the report says.