Why Do Grad Students Often Teach the Most Important Courses?

This week’s Pope Center Clarion Call is by Mark Bauerlein, who laments that in the crucial area of freshman composition, the courses are often taught by grad students rather than by veteran professors.

Sadly, this situation is not limited just to composition. At research universities, students often find that whatever the academic field, introductory courses are frequently taught not by the most knowledgeable and experienced faculty members, but by the least. This is a wasteful, foolish situation that stems from the fact, as Thomas Sowell puts it, that American education is producer-dominated rather than consumer-dominated.