Tag: higher education
My Experience with Campus Climate at a Liberal Arts College
April 12, 2024 | Post
I was a Bernie Sanders-style progressive when I arrived at my small liberal arts college. I quickly rose through the ranks of various leftist student groups. Then, one key event turned me around.
“Social justice lawyers” won’t save law school
March 4, 2017 | Post
It’s easy to spout high-minded rhetoric about idealistic young people, but that doesn’t change the cold, hard fact that law school is a bad deal for most students.
Baristas with BAs: The result of central planning for schools
February 23, 2017 | Post
Government school systems fail to provide different kinds of instruction as appropriate to different kinds of students in different places and times.
The political left’s shmoo theory of education
January 25, 2017 | Post
“Education” is not some homogeneous blob individuals accumulate.
University athletes punished for bad thoughts
January 13, 2017 | Post
The new trend of university administrators arbitrarily punishing their men’s sports teams is even worse than I thought
What is college good for?
January 9, 2017 | Post
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?
Do colleges have an edifice complex, an amenities arms race, or both?
January 7, 2017 | Post
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.
Making college “free” will only make it more expensive.
January 3, 2017 | Post
Making higher education free of charge won’t make it free to provide.
The biggest threat on campus
December 11, 2016 | Post
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.
Dirty jobs vs Liberal arts: Elitism for everybody
December 7, 2016 | Post
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 at Harvard University
November 28, 2016 | Post
Collective punishment is unjust. This is the case whether it is employed by governments, corporations, teachers, or parents.
The devaluation of higher education
November 3, 2016 | Post
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.
Why Government Doubles Down on Policy Mistakes
September 30, 2016 | Post
“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” — Milton Friedman
How Politics Corrupts Scholarship
September 24, 2016 | Post
Perverse incentives distort the truth seeking nature of scholarship in academia to better benefit those in power.
The Obvious, Costless Way to Solve the Problem of Diversity Among College Professors
July 6, 2016 | Post
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 […]
Candidates Divided on the One Issue That Is Ruining Millions of Young Lives
June 30, 2016 | Post
Hundreds of thousands of college students graduated last month, and for many, their biggest concern is how to pay off their college debt. Americans currently hold $1.3 trillion in student debt—even more than they hold in credit card debt—and its preventing them from making investments, buying homes, and successfully meeting their financial obligations. That’s a […]
Desperate Students to College Administrators: Stop Being Paternalistic Babysitters
May 27, 2016 | Post
If you’ve been part of any conversation about American higher education recently, you might have heard someone complain that colleges and universities are morphing from educators to babysitters. Now, students at Dartmouth College are fighting back against the perceived shift. Leaders of the school’s student government delivered a scathing petition, signed by 1,200 students, demanding […]
Should I Go to Grad School?
May 9, 2016 | Post
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 […]
Universities Insist on Genetic Diversity While Ignoring Diversity of Viewpoints
April 25, 2016 | Post
For over 40 years, American universities have been working to increase the diversity of their faculties. Now, in response to last fall’s wave of protests from student groups representing people of color, women, and LGBT individuals, many universities are redoubling their efforts in this regard. For example, Yale’s response to the student protests includes a […]