Long before Hamas’s attack on Israel last fall, Americans had grown skeptical of their elite universities. The safe spaces, the academic-speak elevating inane ideas, and the cancellations of nonprogressive arguments all suggested institutions adrift. Events on campuses since October 7 destroyed any lingering illusions. The anti-Israel (and often anti-American) frenzies seemed tolerated, if not supported, by university administrations and even encouraged by some faculty. It has been a disgraceful spectacle.
Have we finally hit bottom? If so, things may start getting better. A loss of trust and stature could be just what our elite universities need in order to fix themselves.
America’s elite universities remain the envy of the world, with unrivaled academic talent and Nobel Prize–winning research. They still attract talented students and produce leaders in government and industry worldwide, commanding a status that few other schools can match. But their stature has fallen. Some federal judges say that they won’t hire law clerks from Columbia University. One survey found that 33 percent of hiring managers are less likely to hire Ivy League graduates now than five years ago. Employers can’t be blamed, argues Nate Silver, when they assume that many applicants were admitted for dubious reasons, were coddled academically with inflated grades, and are likely to bring divisive politics into the office.
Several trends led to this point. As the American economy transitioned to knowledge-based industries, the returns on college education increased, and elite universities became more important. They also became more desirable globally, enhancing the reputation of undergraduate and professional degrees. More people attended college, placing a higher premium on slots at elite schools. Attendance at such schools was presumed to ensure a job on the fast track. (On average, however, graduates of these universities don’t earn much more compared with similar students from other schools.)
Elite myopia was an outgrowth of elite-ness itself. Once vested with the power and prestige to curate the world’s leadership class, these institutions were compromised from within, undermining their mission of education and scholarship. Top universities believed that they made the elite, rather than the elite making them. Risk aversion led to an expansion of administrative staff, who became a force unto themselves, ensuring job security. Generations of left-leaning faculty hired new faculty who shared their politics. Elite schools cultivated students and professors drawn to activism and the “correct” political opinions.
The goal was not just to educate elite families’ children but to select who should be considered elite and teach them the values deemed correct. In the abstract, at least, this idea had noble intentions. Many bright, deserving students from disadvantaged backgrounds lack access to a quality high school education and the cultural knowledge to appeal to admissions officers. For them, attending such a school can be life-changing. But the mission of curating and educating the elite became corrupt. A radicalized administrative class led to mandatory diversity statements for faculty, elimination of the SAT requirement, and discrimination against Asian students, among other baleful developments.
The question is how to return to meritocratic values in these leading schools. Elite universities still have some of the world’s best faculty and students. But some academic departments are overrun with true believers, and university staff is dominated by administrators who will resist any change. We need to rethink the belief that admission to elite universities offers the only keys to the kingdom. The recent campus tumults thus might be the best thing for these universities in the long run. If a degree from a great state school like Texas A&M is seen as no less valuable than one from an Ivy League university, then America’s top colleges might finally get out of the elite-minting business and return to their original mission of education and research.
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