Higher Education in America
It's Worse than You Think
About the Book
Higher education is in crisis. To capture the full scope of the problem, The Heritage Foundation assembled college presidents, professors, and researchers from across the country to contribute their unique perspectives on the problems plaguing higher education and to offer solutions.
Higher Education in America divides the challenges facing colleges and universities into three categories: economic, bureaucratic, and ideological.
- In the economic section, Preston Cooper, Kyle Washut, Andrew Gillen, and others discuss inflated college tuition expenses, the declining quality of education, the accreditation bottleneck, and more.
- George Harne, John Sailer, and Jonathan Butcher tackle the bureaucracy problem, drawing attention to DEI offices, a lack of vision among college leaders, and the ways in which alumni can exert control over their alma maters.
- Carol Swain, Mark Bauerlein, Kenneth Marcus, and others describe how the leftist capture of universities results in students being exposed to far fewer ideas—and how the ideas to which they are exposed steer them away from the pursuit of truth and toward militant progressivism, anti-Western radicalism, and despair.
- The fourth section of this collection provides hope and solutions. Jay Greene, Kevin Roberts, Christopher Rufo, and others call on universities to demand excellence, recultivate a sense of purpose in the classroom, and reject ideological conformity. As Rufo writes in his conclusion, “The rot is comprehensive, but the remedies are powerful and identifiable.”
This collection makes an essential statement about the need for change in higher education and contains a set of detailed, innovative ideas to help reclaim the American university.
Reshaping a campus culture requires colleges to once again demand excellence and defend the pursuit of truth... The next generation deserves institutions that work; rebuilding them starts now.”
Kevin D. Roberts, PhD
The Heritage Foundation
America’s Founders understood that a republic can only survive if it maintains a virtuous education system. This book provides the ammunition. In reclaiming the American university, we, the contributors, affirm that Americans still believe we have a republic to keep. Now comes the battle. ”
Christopher Rufo
Manhattan Institute
About the Editor
Kevin D. Roberts, PhD, is President of The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America. Since taking the helm of Heritage in 2021, he has led the organization’s efforts to develop and advance policy solutions on some of the most pressing issues facing the country, including education, health care, border security, and election integrity.
Before joining Heritage, Roberts served as Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, where he expanded the organization’s influence nationally and helped shape state and federal policy debates. A lifelong educator, he previously taught history at the collegiate level and founded John Paul the Great Academy in Lafayette, Louisiana, a K–12 Catholic liberal arts school. He later served as president of Wyoming Catholic College, where he promoted a distinctive model of higher education rooted in intellectual freedom and institutional independence.
Roberts holds a PhD in American History from the University of Texas, a master’s degree in history from Virginia Tech, and a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He and his wife have four children.
Additional Heritage Contributors
Higher Education in America also includes contributions from Jonathan Butcher, Acting Director of the Center for Education Policy and Will Skillman Senior Research Fellow in Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, and Madison Marino Doan, Policy Analyst in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation.
To book an interview with Kevin Roberts, Jonathan Butcher, or Madison Doan, please reach out to Marguerite Bowling at [email protected].
