Higher education? Aim lower

“I had a great time in university. I had small classes with enthusiastic professors who pushed us hard. I took demanding survey courses in Western Civ, before such things fell out of fashion. I even thought I might have a future as a professor. By the time I graduated, the culture had shifted radically … Forty years ago, a university education was still largely confined to the (relatively) privileged elites. Today, every kid who’s smarter than a turnip is expected to go. Universities are vast credentialing factories whose main function is to certify that their graduates are intelligent enough to hold down jobs in the knowledge economy …” (more)

[Margaret Wente, Globe and Mail, 31 January]

Advertisement