University endowments often act like hedge funds—and hedge funds that are allowed to issue tax-exempt debt, at that. Many law schools, meanwhile, were recently caught up in a scandal over job placement for graduates. And then there’s the extremely well-known story of what our best universities have done to those individuals who sought PhDs in the humanities. My suggestion to the president: Forget trying to persuade college presidents to play nice. With all the federal money that is dumped annually on the academy, you are entitled to accountability. Choose some high-profile colleges—preferably one of these 60-grand-a-year outfits—and make an example of them. Shatter the myths of prestige; demand to know why they have such an enormous roster of administrators; make them explain why they pay adjuncts so poorly; and cut through all the bullshit about how they need to keep raising tuition because students want fancy cafeterias. Demand to see the numbers, demand to hear an explanation for every expense, and then make all of it public. If that doesn’t work, it might be time for price controls. Nixon put them into place by himself; Obama can, too. Not only would moves like these be popular among anyone who’s ever made a tuition or student loan payment, but it would also constitute what the centrists like to call a “Sister Souljah Moment.” Obama would be giving a public stiff-arm to one of his most devoted constituencies—the higher ed industry—in the comforting assurance that they have nowhere else to go. I mean, what are all those ivory tower folks going to do, vote for some science-denying Republicans? That’ll be the day. Looking back over all the suggestions I have made here, I begin to suspect that the administration’s stagnation isn’t a problem of ideas, it’s a problem of backbone.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 22:28:59 +0000
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