A Holiday Wish: The Return of Higher Education as an Asset to Our Society

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Perhaps the finest holiday gift our nation could receive would be that all university presidents and boards of directors/regents live up to their responsibility by insisting on a return to teaching critical thinking and the demanding pursuit of truth. Instead, for many universities, these education leaders have acquiesced as their faculties since the Vietnam debacle have become progressively progressive and intolerant while eschewing equality in favor of the socialist ideal of equity, transferring of resources from one group to another based on racial or ethnic characteristics. This requires categorizing citizens by superficial appearances instead of individual traits such as character and self-reliance as preached by Reverend Martin Luther King Junior (Ref1). The presence of a single-minded faculty and the impediment that this creates to the proper university/college mission has been well described (Ref.2).
    Universities/colleges have facilitated grossly unequal primary and secondary education in the United States. They do this by NOT insisting that every applicant regardless of race, ethnicity or religion be adequately prepared for higher education. If this were the case applicants would be judged on individual achievements and diversity of thought.  Instead, universities/colleges have considered superficial racial or ethnic characteristics trying to answer calls for diversity.  This has permitted millions of our children to have inferior preparatory education (Ref.3). Unfortunately, our education leaders have NOT mustered the courage to address this issue (Ref.4). 
    Another issue of societal damage by our universities/colleges has been the colossal rise in costs in higher education. These costs have exploded due in large part to a tsunami of federal loans, regulations, and administrative bloat (Ref.5,6,7). Students either need to come from families that can afford huge expenses or become seriously indebted to pay for their education. The increase in costs far in excess of inflation is well documented (Ref.8).  Post pandemic, these costs are probably a major reason for the large decrease in enrollment in higher education (Ref.9). 
    Perhaps this significant drop in enrollment will be a wake-up call to the leaders in higher education for reform? Perhaps they will reaffirm that their core mission is the development of critical thinkers and the pursuit of truth. Hopefully, they would seriously cut costs and become strong advocates for K-12 improvement.  These changes by our universities/colleges would be a fine and sorely needed holiday gift to our nation.    

  1. Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream, March on Washington, 1963, available at: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/Abridged%20MLK%20Dream%20Speech_0.pdf  (accessed December 15, 2021)
  2. Keith E. Whittington, The Value of Ideological Diversity among University Faculty, Social Philosophy and Policy 37:2(2021):90-113, available at: https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/the_value_of_ideological_diversity_among_university_faculty_draft.pdf (accessed December 15, 2021)
  3. No Labels, Five Facts on K-12 Education in the U.S., Real Clear Policy, December 10, 2021, available at: https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2021/12/10/five_facts_on_k-12_education_in_the_us_807264.html#! (accessed December 15, 2021)
  4. Natasha K. Warikoo, The Diversity Bargain: And Other Dilemmas of Race, Admissions, and Meritocracy at Elite Universities, The University of Chicago Press, 2016, available at: https://press.uchicago.edu/books/excerpt/2017/Warikoo_Diversity.html (accessed December 15, 2021)
  5. Hans Bader, Federal Financial Aid Drives UP Tuition and College Costs, Study Finds, cns news, July 9 2015, available at: https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/hans-bader/federal-financial-aid-drives-tuition-and-college-costs-study-finds (accessed December 15, 2021)
  6. Ashe Schow, University Spends $10.6 MILLION A Year On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Salaries, Is It Working?, Daily Wire, January 7, 2019, available at: https://www.dailywire.com/news/university-spends-106-million-year-diversity-ashe-schow (accessed December 15, 2021)
  7. Philip Mousarizadeh, A “proliferation of administrators”: faculty reflect on two decades of rapid expansion, Yale News, November 10, 2021, available at: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2021/11/10/reluctance-on-the-part-of-its-leadership-to-lead-yales-administration-increases-by-nearly-50-percent/ (accessed December 19, 2021)
  8. Timothy McMahon, College Tuition and Fees vs Overall Inflation, InflationData.com, June 14, 2012, available at: https://inflationdata.com/articles/charts/college-tuition-fees-inflation/  (accessed April 1, 2021)
  9. Lauren Camera, College Enrollment On Track for Largest Two-Year Drop on Record, U.S. News, October 26, 2021, available at: https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2021-10-26/college-enrollment-on-track-for-largest-two-year-drop-on-record (accessed December)

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