Rich Vedder on Academically Adrift

George Leef

Rich Vedder has an essay today on Minding the Campus in which he discusses the “sniping” at that most inconvenient book (inconvenient for the higher education establishment, anyway) Academically Adrift. His argument is that the book’s main thesis is correct: Many students these days coast through college without advancing their knowledge and skills — they’re hardly any wiser or more capable upon graduating from college than they were when they graduated from high school. Sure, students learn a few things long enough to pass tests, but that doesn’t betoken any improvement in human capital. Many schools have decided that they would rather have contented students than rigorous standards and therefore make it easy for those who just want a credential with minimal effort to get it.

  • Share

Most Commented

January 24, 2024

1.

After Claudine

The idea has caught on that the radical left overplayed its hand in DEI and is now vulnerable to those of us who seek major reforms. This is not, however, the first time that the a......

February 13, 2024

2.

The Great Academic Divorce with China

All signs show that American education is beginning a long and painful divorce with the People’s Republic of China. But will academia go through with it?...

October 31, 2023

3.

University of Washington Violated Non-Discrimination Policy, Internal Report Finds

A faculty hiring committee at the University of Washington “inappropriately considered candidates’ races when determining the order of offers,” provided “disparate op......

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

July 8, 2011

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Is Structural-Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism?

Professor Jonathan Imber clarifies concepts of sociologocal theory....