<p>which universities do you think will still be on "top." Think everyone will still think Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are the best? Or will some other school like Washington University or Emory have surpassed them? Or perhaps it U.S. schools won't even be the best anymore...nobody can really say that the U.S. will be the most "powerful" nation 100 years from now, so maybe the education system won't be either.</p>
<p>I think the top universities will still be the top ones in the future. But I also think there will be some universities that will gain in prestige and become top schools, ones that we now look past them without a second glance.</p>
<p>Seems like colleges move into the top ranks more often than they fall out. The top schools seem stay at or near the top. Harvard has been more or less on top of the US heap for its entire 371 year history, with Yale and Princeton up there with them for most of that time. But a 150 years ago Stanford didn't even exist. Neither did Caltech or MIT. So it is certainly possible to come out of nowhere and move up to the top.</p>
<p>Can anyone think of a school that used to be in the stratosphere but is now regarded as 2nd or 3rd tier?</p>
<p>Rutgers and William & Mary used to be among the top US universities. Rutgers associated with many of the ivy league schools until the mid 1900's.</p>
<p>Growth of endowments can play a dramatic role. It wasn't that long ago that the University of Texas was the richest university in the world. Amazing what oil money did for a school not even founded until the late 1800s. Even more recently, it was #2, after Harvard. Then the splitting of funds among the other system schools, as well as the phenomenal growth of private university funds through larger gifts and higher returns (they can be much more aggressive than public universities) dropped it to it's present #4-5 place. Conversely, look what Coca-Cola stock did for Emory. Obviously it's endowment helped bring it to where it is today.</p>
<p>Emory and WashU will be what the Ivies are today.
Public Colleges will go up insanely in academics generally. So will prices. Grad School will be the new Undergrad.</p>
The top public schools have very little room to go up any further in academics. Definitely the very top schools of Berkeley and Michigan, as well as the ones right below (UCLA/Wisconsin/Texas/Illinois/Washington) already have faculty and programs every bit on par, and in many cases actually much better than the top privates. The issue is selectivity and the undergraduate student body. However, as the general population continues to grow there is only so much space at the top privates that elite publics will by default have to be more and more selective. This is especially true in states with very large populations like California, Texas, and Florida, where the top publics have no choice but to be more and more selective due to exploding populations. At the point where their selectivity and average undergraduate student body catches up to their already strong academic programs they will then be recognized for what they basically already are.</p>
<p>Harvard/Yale will always be top - just like they have for ages...it is simple...the worlds smartest people will want to attend these colleges...and therefore...they will get the students who become outstanding alumni....making them the best schools</p>
<p>I think a better question is, will physical colleges even exist in 100 years?</p>
<p>I doubt we can even fathom what "education" will look like in a century. What role will the Internet play in education? Will the Internet evolve into / be replaced by something even more accessible, more flexible, more powerful? Will kids be able to "download" directly into their brains every single morsel of information recorded in human history in an instant? Will kids be taught by "virtual teachers" available 24/7, being able to be custom tailored to every student?</p>
<p>Think about what the world looked like at the turn of the last century --> think back to 1907. Now think about how much the world has changed by 2007. If anything, the pace of change will only increase from this point. Can we even imagine the incredible changes, innovations that science, technology and biotechnology, will bring over the next 100 years?</p>
<p>Now I'm not saying that Harvard won't exist in 100 years, if any academic institution will survive massive changes, it will most certainly be Harvard... but I doubt that kids will be "applying" to Harvard and "graduating" from Harvard the way they have for the first 400 years.</p>
<p>actually i never thought harvard, yale, princeton are top. It depends on what u study and what u like. They definitely suck in engineering and related majors compared to higher ranked, cheaper schools.</p>
<p>HYPS will still be HYPS because top students go there for the prestige, not because of actual education quality. As long as the are window clings for cars HYPS will stay on top.</p>
<p>Just 20, 30 years ago, people could get into Harvard with an SAT of 1200+. Nowadays, even the people with perfect 1600/2400 will be very lucky to get in.</p>
<p>100 years from now, I'm betting there will be another standardized test created specifically for certain majors (for example, freshman directly applying to certain majors will be required to take an additional test to get in, etc.).</p>
<p>Admit GPAs will only go up (up to the point where a perfect 4.0 is not rare anymore). And yes, I'm betting the top colleges right now will still maintain the top position because of its reputation and prestige.</p>
<p>USC will have beaten UCLA in terms of prestige and ranking due to its advantage of being a private school, but UC will be able to maintain its position as the role model for public education.</p>
<p>Various new majors will be created (Robotics, Astro/Aerial-Design (sort of like architecture/urban design major, except concentrated in outer-space or aerial environment, Interplanetary Relations, etc) and new root of science would have formed (possibly a new root from astronomy).</p>
<p>"USC will have beaten UCLA in terms of prestige and ranking due to its advantage of being a private school, but UC will be able to maintain its position as the role model for public education."</p>
<p>^^ Laughable.. the usc kids are at it again.</p>
<p>kinda old thread sorry for bringing it back but i thought it was interesting...</p>
<p>i think the top will basically stay the top with MAYBE a university or two really growing in popularity/academics/etc and ranking...</p>
<p>although, i do believe if a university was built today that was aimed to be "the ultimate" and had lots of funding for great facilities/etc, i think it would jump up in the stands QUICKLY</p>