The Iron Triangle of Higher Education

There is much confusion and misunderstanding about the triangle of quality, affordability and accessibility of higher education around the world: in the community (students and parents, political and social leaders, media) and in the universities (board of trustees and a large proportion of the academic community).  It is a near impossibility to meet all the three objectives at the highest levels as it is increasingly being demanded.  To motivate you to read an excellent 52 page report on this topic  https://www.highereducation.org/reports/iron_triangle/IronTriangle.pdf, I am illustrating the impossibility of balancing this iron triangle with two examples from US universities – one renowned for quality of the highest caliber and the other well known for its access.   The numbers tell the story.