O.O.P.S. This week in The New York Times Book Review, Andrew Delbanco reviews two new books about the state of higher education in the U.S. Mr. Delbanco writes:
More than a century ago, the president of Harvard, A. Lawrence Lowell, issued a warning to America’s colleges and universities. “Institutions,†he said, “are rarely murdered. They meet their end by suicide. . . . They die because they have outlived their usefulness, or fail to do the work that the world wants done.†Most of the institutions he had in mind are still around today, but the doosday talk is back. William J. Bennett, secretary of education under President Reagan, and Jeffrey Selingo, an editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education, believe our system is self-¬destructing. Their tones are different â€" Bennett and his co-author, David Wilezol, write in an expectant mood of good riddance, while Selingo is sympathetically alarmed â€" but their views are grimly consistent. College costs are up. Learning and graduation rates are down.
On this week’s podcast, Mr. Delbanco discusses college; Julie Bosman has notes from the field; Andrew O’Hehir talks about “The Fall of Arthur,†by J. R. R. Tolkien; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.
