Is higher education meant to help develop an inquiring mind and a deep appreciation for the value of how knowledge enriches one’s lifelong personal and professional achievements—or, should it be simply focused on gaining the skills to pursue a well paying career?
If you use a GPS device, a mouse, or a microwave oven, take antibiotics, have an eye implant, or are reading this on a tablet, you can thank America’s research universities.
American research and teaching universities have been the envy of the world for six decades. Unfortunately, their record of excellence and achievement may not continue to hold up—and if it does not, we may find ourselves losing our position as worldwide leaders.
The relationship between government and the university in the United States is, in the minds of many commentators, fraught.
For many people who have spent their lives working in higher education, mass higher education and research universities make for a perfect fit: together they express both the public service and the intellectual ambitions of educators. But they aren’t the same idea.
