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America’s elite universities have lost their way
Over time, a focus on their social mission has led to politicisation, which comes at a cost.
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American universities are at a crossroads. More Americans are sceptical a college education is worth it at all.
PHOTO: SOPHIE PARK/NYTIMES
Allison Schrager
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If you doubt that America’s elite universities have lost their way, consider that, as part of a settlement with the Trump administration, Harvard is considering building trade schools. Whatever Harvard’s comparative advantage is – and it has many! – it is not in vocational education.
US colleges and universities attract the world’s best students and academics, and produce research that powers the global economy. But the share of Americans who have a lot of trust in higher education has declined 15 percentage points over the past decade, to 42 per cent – and trust in the Ivy League stands at just 15 per cent.
