Students at Shengda College in China, who face a gruelingly competitive and turbulent job market, protested because the campus pledged that their diplomas would be issued in the name of the more prestigious Zhengzhou University. Their scores were too low to be admitted to ZU, and many of them and their parents borrowed heavily to secure a degree from Shengda.
False advertising, the lowering of entrance standards to fill classroom seats, education of dubious worth, student debt? Standard laments in the U.S. higher-education debate. For years there have been calls for “truth-in-advertising” on our campuses, which often do not live up to their claims, notably, to offer true liberal education.
The educratic urge to fill seats and not minds would seem to be universal.