In recent years a group of colleges started offering a mix of programs challenging the notion that college credentials must come in neat two-year or four-year packages. From our respective perches, we believe that these “dual-mission” institutions offer another way forward for higher education in the post-pandemic period. We got here in part because a group of higher ed leaders, led by former University of California president Clark Kerr, worked to create some order out of a rapidly growing and changing system. The Carnegie classification system was designed in the early 1970s, a time when higher education was booming following the passage of the Civil Rights Act, rapid expansion of community colleges and the adoption of the Higher Education Act, which launched many of the federal financial aid programs that still benefit millions of college students today.
