Richmond, Va.
John White doesn’t care if his university football
team wins. He doesn’t pal around with other students in the dorm. He
doesn’t do keg parties.
In his younger days, the fifty-nine-year-old retiree was a
tough-as-nails Army paratrooper. For him, college is not for youthful
hijinks.
White is the kind of student Virginia’s higher education system
increasingly is catering to as colleges and universities adapt to the
demands of global competition, tight budgets, businesses that want
trained workers, and demanding students who want practical degrees that
will help them find jobs.
“I may go back to work someday, and when I do go back into the
workplace I want to be current,” said White, who is studying for a
four-year degree in business management.
When the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, the
think tank for industrialized nations, studied higher education,
Virginia’s system was singled out as an example of where other
countries may be headed.
Virginia gives colleges and universities autonomy in hiring,
admissions and requirements. That allows institutions to find a niche
and specialize, as Old Dominion University has done with the
long-distance learning program White is using.
