With Our New ‘Work From Home’ Life, Could You Say The Internet Is A Luxury?

In our “new normal” world, one could argue that broadband is no longer a luxury, subject to the cartel-like whims of a single local provider. Instead, higher education should reframe the discussion of whether high speed internet should be treated as a utility. Could we find anyone today who wouldn’t agree the internet is essential to our daily lives?

Higher education should be a leading voice here— the opportunity is flashing like a red light. If, as some have been saying, our future is online, we must be on the forefront of advocating for our students. Logging in to the digital world is critical, no matter what your economic status is at the moment. “Access” and “affordability” are often used terms to create democratic spaces in higher education. After this pandemic passes, I suspect many colleges will begin to innovate around the difficult lessons we are learning now. Nearly all of that hard-won insight will inevitably point towards more online activity, not less. Higher education needs to take this crisis and turn it into an opportunity to reframe the debate; let’s start with how we share knowledge and who has access to it.

[Karen Weaver is a Forbes contributor that covers the intersection of college sports and higher education.]