Ben Adler, editor of CampusProgress.org, makes a few interesting observations on current state of the U.S. post-secondary/higher education system in the June edition of the Washington Monthly:
For years, colleges and universities have hidden behind the argument that America’s system of higher education is the best in the world to insulate themselves from scrutiny and accountability, and to operate with a remarkable degree of autonomy from Washington, given the funds lavished on them by the federal government. The claim that our higher ed system really is the best in the world, however, is becoming less and less true every year. In 1980, the United States led Canada by 10 percent in the percentage of its population with a college degree, and was ahead of the United Kingdom by 11 percent and France by 19 percent, according to a recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. By 2000, those leads had shrunk to 3, 6, and 10 percent respectively—and the evidence suggests that the gaps have continued to narrow since then. Meanwhile, colleges, especially elite private institutions, have been raising tuition far faster than the rate of inflation year after year after year, outpacing the meager growth in federal tuition subsidies. That’s put a squeeze on middle-class families and forced students deeper and deeper into debt. Worst of all, the information that policy makers and the public need to begin turning these problems around—which schools are educating their students effectively, and how tuition dollars are really being spent—remains locked in the ivory tower.
3 comments:
Of course, the US lead in HE research spending has *increased* over the same period and it has retained or extended its lead in indicators like scientific publications, etc.
Which suggests that where those dollars are going might not be such a mystery after all.
Maybe.
I thought there were are a few parallels (esp. w.r.t. the decline of US dominance) between parts of this article and your week in review commentary from last week.
More than a few.
But I wasn't suggesting that the US was losing the research university war *yet* - merely that it was attracting a lot of competitors. It takes a coupe of decades for those competitors' investments to bear fruit. But when they do...
Actually, there's a very good article in the July/August Change magazine on "the real global technology challenge" which gets at yet another aspect of this issue: the nature of innovation systems in various countries. Quite a good read.
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