Maggie's Farm

"By that ACTA means universities should require a core curriculum with substantive courses in composition, literature, American history, economics, math, science and foreign language."

In other words, get rid of the "XXX Studies" programs and instead concentrate on hiring for and teaching the classical core liberal arts curriculum that has stood the test of time? I agree, but how are you going to convince or force colleges to reform themselves when the business of higher education is now politics and "social justice"?

"The fundamental problem here is not debt but a broken educational system that no longer insists on excellence," Ms. Neal says.

I disagree; they are both extremely serious problems. In any event, flunking out students who are lazy and undisciplined and unwilling to put in the hard work that it takes to become educated is not something most faculty are prepared to do these days. And their students are not prepared to accept being flunked out without a court fight, either. Like the much older Liberals who preceded them, students are fond of casting the blame for their failures on other people.

"College tuitions have risen more than 440% over the last 25 years—and for what?

To sustain and enrich the many Liberals who have captured the nation's educational system, that's what for. I have long believed an educated citizenry is better than an uneducated one but, truthfully, some of the dumbest people I know can write Ph.D. after their names. As Instapundit keeps saying, excessive government funding of risky investments by students in higher education is creating a financial bubble that is about to burst, in the same way that subprime mortgages led to a housing bubble that eventually collapsed, in the process taking down our economy.