In 1926, J. Gresham Machen testified before a congressional committee regarding a proposed federal department of education. In the first minute of his testimony, he explained that the purpose of the bill was “to promote uniformity in education,” which, he asserted, “is the worst fate into which any country can fall.”
“Perhaps the voucher movement ought to be called the ‘Make schools accountable to parents’ movement.” – Arnold Kling
The new trend of university administrators arbitrarily punishing their men’s sports teams is even worse than I thought
Why is a model of education that is also profitable seen as such a bad thing?
How many of you would spend the time you are spending, pay the money you are paying, and do the things you have to do as a student if at the end of your time at this university, you wouldn’t receive a degree?
College construction has focused more on creating non-academic than academic space, and about half of all college space today is for non-academic use.
Government and media are overwhelming champions of getting a college degree (“investing in your future”), but when 6 in 10 students aren’t graduating within four years, it may not be the right investment for all people. Jared Meyer, author of “Disinherited: How Washington Is Betraying America’s Young” discusses a potential solution to the Student Debt […]
Making higher education free of charge won’t make it free to provide.
Which group of teachers should benefit more? The ones that forcefully receive resources from the taxpayers, or the ones that produce educational outcomes that are desired by children and parents?
It is the examined life that both George and West view as the purpose of a liberal-arts education. Its goal, that is, is to encourage critical reflection on the biggest questions; to lead us into an intellectual engagement that fulfills our nature as thinking beings; to help us achieve self-mastery; to enlarge our souls.
However, DeVos’s nomination has come under assault because she supports vouchers that enable parents to, among other options, send their children to religious schools.
The value of liberal arts fields lies not in their specific application but in the way they inculcate a set of problem-solving tools. That corporate recruiters consistently report a preference for liberal arts majors over majors in “practical” fields is testimony to the reading, writing, and analytic skills students develop in those programs.
Collective punishment is unjust. This is the case whether it is employed by governments, corporations, teachers, or parents.
Is tyranny of the majority still a threat? Alexis de Tocqueville would say so.
Why should students read big, difficult books if they have perfectly good summaries available to them?
Like any other economic good, the value of a higher education degree is determined on the market, at the intersection of the subjective valuations and appraisements of those constituting the supply and demand of that particular good.
Trump and Clinton are likely to look at this question. So does a new study.
Perverse incentives distort the truth seeking nature of scholarship in academia to better benefit those in power.
Last month, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver covered charter schools, calling for more government oversight. While Oliver explicitly declined to discuss “whether or not charter school are a good idea in principle,” his focus on failed and mismanaged charter schools has upset many charter school supporters and re-ignited debates about the value of school choice.
Because students educated at home or in private schools regularly outperform students in public schools, it seems reasonable to conclude that such accommodations have not had a detrimental effect on the quality of education in these states.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce her new proposals this week to change the payment options of higher education, following the lead put forth by Senator Bernie Sanders earlier in the electoral race. Her plans include including tuition-free enrollment at in-state public universities for students of families making up to $85,000 per year. […]
Increasing the diversity of university and college faculties is a perennial problem. Every year, year after year, demands for a more diverse faculty increase. Last fall, a wave of protests from student groups representing people of color, women, and LGBT individuals caused universities to redouble their efforts to diversify their faculties. For example, Yale announced […]
Forgiving student debt and increasing education subsidies are popular ideas on the campaign trail this year. But what would happen if the United States actually forgave student debt? Would the loans just vanish into thin air? Would tuition prices start falling at last? Would universities stop spending so much on bureaucrats and climbing walls? Watch […]
Should I go to grad school? I’ve benefited enormously from great advice from friends and mentors like Pete Boettke, Tyler Cowen, Deirdre McCloskey, Mike Munger, John Nye, and many others (here, for example, is the indispensable IHS publication Scaling the Ivory Tower, to which I still refer periodically). If I could go back in time […]