For all the lip service that’s paid to “excellence in education” and “helping students achieve,” colleges and universities don’t really seem much interested in that. They’ve become money-grubbing institutions run mainly for the enjoyment and profit of the people who work in them. Sure, they’re almost all non-profit, but being non-profit is a great cover for getting away with things you probably couldn’t if you had to worry about profit and loss.
A recent book that recognizes this situation is Students First by Paul LeBlanc, the president of of Southern New Hampshire University. In today’s Martin Center commentary, I offer my thoughts on LeBlanc’s book.
LeBlanc is not a radical reformer who’d like to get government out of higher education, but still sees that our system has become badly encrusted with policies that no longer make sense and work against the interests of many students. First and foremost, there’s the venerable old “credit hour” that links education to time rather than to learning. Higher-education institutions could offer programs that are “asynchronous” and would better serve most students — but doing so would disrupt comfortable old routines and would require regulatory changes.
LeBlanc also points out that traditional grading doesn’t work very well. It has been corrupted by the desire of many faculty to be popular with students and often fails to show what students actually know. He suggests separating teaching and evaluation.
He hopes to see an “educational ecosystem” evolve. That would be good, but I’m skeptical that we will get there as long as government plays a role in financing higher education.