This essay by Kevin Carey is excellent.
How to Raise a University’s Profile: Pricing and Packaging – NYTimes.com.
I commented, but just to add to the information in the essay.
Thank you, Mr. Carey. This essay should be required reading for everyone – at least everyone who cares about our economy, our society, and the future of our kids. (I know how bad it is. I taught at one of the schools mentioned here, Wash. U in St. Louis.)
The damage these universities do doesn’t stop with their own students. It trickles down on all of us. Here, in a nutshell, is how it effects ALL of education.
Professors get “national need” grants to produce “American” doctorates. And, boy, do they give out those faux-PhD’s! (For an example, see “No Jobs for Ph.D’s? Depends on what you mean by Ph.D.” on my blog inside-higher-ed )
Many of these new PHD’s become “professors” at regional state schools where young people go expecting to learn enough to become good high school teachers. They have no chance. (See the category on “regional schools” on my blog for examples of what happens.)
But that’s only part of it.
Many of these “elite” colleges cater to their “customers'” wants rather than their “students'” needs. So, even if these students go on to teach, they don’t have a good background.
To see how these schools treat their own students, see “A Tale Out of School” on my blog. I wrote the story because I feel that it is impossible to believe what happens without seeing it happen up close.
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