David Brooks Suggests Some Painful Hypocrisies of “Elite” Colleges While Many Continue to Question the Value of College Itself

We also give the Chronicle of Higher Education a shoutout in our Shortstack and shed some more light on our upcoming special issue: the Top Ten Stories of 2023-24.

What are the Top Stories of 2023-24? 

Just this morning we read in the New York Times that L.A. police arrested more than 30 pro-Palestinians protestors at UCLA after the students (we think) had “marched through campus, pitched tents and occupied various quads in demonstrations that became confrontational at times.” (See our Shortstack story “The Harvard Corporation Tries to Kill Faculty Governance” below.)   Not only is this school year not yet over, but we all know that the biggest challenge of finding the top ten stories of this rather remarkable year is finding the two through ten contenders. So help us put together our Summer Special Issue. (Extra points for creative ways of saying campus protest.)  Send us your suggestions with the comments button below. Or email them to me at paideiatimesweekly@gmail.com. Subject line: Top Stories. —peter meyer

Source

At U.C.L.A., Police Arrest More Than 20 Pro-Palestinian Protesters (New York Times)

Further Reading

You tell us

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PURPOSE

Elite Campuses as Training Grounds for Progressive Thinking

“To be progressive is to be against privilege,” writes David Brooks in The New York Times. Yet ironically, today’s most elite institutions—the exclusive universities, the big foundations and the top cultural institutions—are filled with progressives. During the information age, “the center of progressive energy moved from the working class to the universities, and not just any universities, but the elite universities,” Brooks continues. The share of progressive students and professors has been steadily rising, to the point where they never have to encounter ideas other than their own. At Harvard, 82 percent of progressives say all or almost all of their close friends share their political beliefs. Brooks highlights an investigative report published in May in The Washington Monthly that looked at the pro-Palestinian campus protests. The researchers surveyed more than 1,400 public and private colleges and concluded that, with few exceptions, protests have taken place disproportionately at elite colleges. Progressivism has now become an entry ticket into the elite. This, Brooks, writes, helps to explain the following: “Society pours hundreds of thousands of dollars into elite students, gives them the most prestigious launching pads fathomable, and they are often the ones talking most loudly about burning the system down.”

---Elizabeth Janice

Source

The Sins of the Educated Class (New York Times)

Further Reading

On Institutional Neutrality and the Purpose of a University (SSRN)

U.S.C. Holds Graduation Event With No Mention of Protests or War (New York Times)

Why Bad Commencement Speeches Are a Good Thing (New York Times)

Their Diplomas Came With Envelopes of Cash, and a Catch (New York Times)

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PUBLIC TRUST

Americans Divided on the Value of a College Degree

Is a college degree still worth the time and money involved? It depends on who you ask. While public trust in higher education has never been lower, according to one recent online survey, a resounding 80 percent of registered voters say a four-year degree is valuable. Among younger voters, ages 18 to 44, this rises to 85 percent. Across party lines, 65 percent of Democrats, 52 percent of Independents and 48 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of higher education. On the other hand, a recent Pew Research Center study found that only one in four U.S. adults say it’s extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree in order to get a well-paying job. Roughly half (49 percent) feel it’s less important today than it was 20 years ago. And 47 percent say going to college is worth it only if they don’t have to take out loans. Another reason driving the negative views not mentioned in the Pew survey is the so-called “direction” of education. By a large margin, 79 percent of Republicans believe that liberal professors bring their political views into the classroom. Only 17 percent of Democrats share this concern.

---Elizabeth Janice

Sources

Voters Want Less Talk and More Action on Higher Ed Value (Third Way)

Is College Worth It? (Pew Research)

Pew Research: Is college worth it? Yes, with caveats (University World News)

Further Reading

College is still worth it, outgoing UNH president says (Boston Globe)  

OPINION: Yes, College Is ‘Worth It’ (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Is College Worth It? Depends on the Student Debt. (Chronicle of Higher Education)

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SHORTSTACK: A Shoutout to the 46-year-old Chronicle of Higher Education… A quick sampling from a recent issue

• ·       Why Did This Beloved Arts College Have to Close?:  At the heart of the university’s troubles appears to be the same issues that have plagued numerous other small, private institutions: too few students and rising expenses. 

• ·       This Small College Warned of Imminent Closure. Here’s How It Kept the Lights On.: It was, she joked, the hardest decision she had to make in her first year as president of the financially struggling Lake Erie College, in Ohio.

• ·       College Alone Can’t Save Women: In the fall of 2020, Jessica Calarco encapsulated what so many families were experiencing during the pandemic in a memorable phrase: “Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.”

• ·       This Extremely Online Regent Has an Unorthodox Vision for College Governance: Jordan Acker’s law office was vandalized on Monday. The police are investigating.

• ·       How Wealth — Not Just Income — Affects College Access: To understand racial inequities in higher education, don’t just look at income disparities among different groups of Americans. Be sure to look at enduring wealth gaps, too.

• ·       Iowa Businesses Are Making Their Pitch to High-School Graduates. Colleges Struggle to Compete: To understand racial inequities in higher education, don’t just look at income disparities among different groups of Americans. Be sure to look at enduring wealth gaps, too.

• ·       It’s Time to Stop the Double Talk Around Diversity Hiring: First, let’s admit it’s happening.

• ·       The Harvard Corporation Tries to Kill Faculty Governance: This is about a lot more than one university’s disciplinary action.

• ·       The Specter of ‘Indoctrination’: How a military term became a culture-war shibboleth.     

• ·       Can Small, Struggling Colleges Survive?: There are paths forward, but they all require acting early.