From PUP, the introduction to Implausible Dream: The World-Class University and Repurposing Higher Education by James H. Mittelman; and the introduction to The Struggle to Reform Our Colleges by Derek Bok. There are no quick fixes for the failing American university: Support from the federal government has covered up the long-term trend — until now. A Brown v. Board for higher ed: When higher education is a prerequisite for getting a job that pays better than minimum wage, we cannot stop until it is free and accessible to all — the good news is we have done this once before. After decades of pushing bachelor’s degrees, U.S. needs more tradespeople (and more). The world might be better off without college for everyone: Students don’t seem to be getting much out of higher education. It’s time to marginalize the university and revive the cafe.
