Western University Standards in Freefall
Western universities are imploding, and many people fail to realize that we are close to throwing hundreds of years of progress down the drain. The initial impacts can not only be seen in the declining academic standards but also in the obtuse and dangerous cultural ideas that have gained a strong footing on college campuses.
Gad Saad, one of the most vocal critics on this topic, has expressed cautious optimism about the ability of universities to heal.
The combination of declining standards, the introduction of AI, and the soaring popularity of DEI has been a toxic cocktail for US universities. More students are graduating from college, yet many exit with useless degrees and the baggage of toxic ideology.
As always, free market solutions can sort things out. The government never should have been involved with student loans, which created a large number of puff degrees and gradually resulted in declining standards for other reputable degrees. A new system should emerge that offers higher-quality education to a smaller portion of the population.
US Education in Shambles
The state of education in the United States is in shambles. More people are gaining access to higher education, yet our academic standards are dropping, and people are not benefiting from these degrees when they enter the workforce.
Redpilled Teacher recently made some astute observations about the state of decline in the United States’ education system.
Many students should not be in college, but are still coasting through due to the abundance of remedial courses and grade inflation. The introduction of artificial intelligence and other academic tools has also made it easier for students, who would otherwise drop out, to get by.
The West has become an artificial, equality-obsessed society. We can’t expect the world to become better just by handing everyone a college education. It is almost as foolish as the quantitative easing policies that are also destroying the West.
Javier Milei has made this comparison in the following quote:
The real solution is to eliminate these useless majors and maintain rigorous standards, so that fewer people end up attending college.
A Massive Mismatch
Are students really better off if they pursue higher education in the 2020s?
Sociocultural trends have changed recently, as many young people now believe that college degrees are not very useful, especially if you have to take out loans. They are certainly on to something, having observed educated peers struggle in the real economy.
Public and private university enrollment has more than doubled since the 1970s, but are we better off for it? The combination of tuition inflation and the commoditization of the four-year degree has made many people in the job market realize their degree wasn’t all it was cut out to be.
The real perversion began after the great financial crisis, when we foolishly decided to let the government take over student loans. It only took around a decade for the government’s interference in the free markets to turn into a monster.
Universities became greedy and cheated students of the experience they deserved. They also created useless majors and brought in as many students as they could, with no regard to how they would perform in the real economy. We are beginning to realize the impact, but much too late.
The distortions have now hit the labor market. Many students are stuck with useless degrees that provide few meaningful career prospects. Others feel underemployed, as they are working in a job that doesn’t require a four-year degree.
The solution proposed by many populist politicians has been astounding: they previously pushed for loan forgiveness but have failed to acknowledge the impact of the government taking over student loans. In essence, they have stated that the US population, including those without degrees, should bear the cost of the government's mistakes.
Another common misconception that drove this trend is the idea that getting a four-year degree is a clear-cut way to higher earnings power. This has been slowly disproven through the emergence of an increased respect for trades, which are cheaper to obtain and often result in higher salaries.
Embarrassing Standards
The US government should also consider the national embarrassment of this development. Many foreign students come to the United States because of the supposed academic rigor and career prospects. However, this can quickly change if the United States’ image is tarnished.
Even institutions like Harvard have stooped and begun offering remedial math courses for incoming students who struggle with math. It should go without saying that students who struggle with basic math shouldn’t be attending a prestigious university.
How will a former Harvard alumnus or prospective student feel about this new development?
The failure begins in high school, as these schools fail to prepare students academically for college. Instead of being honest about these failures, universities simply lower their standards and admit students who should not be attending college.
One study shows that only 21% of people who take the ACT tests are prepared to meet the rigor of college-level courses.
Students who do enter university in this inferior state may be able to coast due to grade inflation and lower standards. Some may even begin to abuse tools like AI to stay afloat.
Cultural Downfall
In this type of environment, we need a cultural pushback to reclaim the previous rigor of our education system. Unfortunately, we are moving in the opposite direction, where ridiculous claims about math being racist are actually being entertained as serious discussions.
Toxic ideologies like DEI have taken hold of our education system, even in complex areas like medicine. This intellectual infestation will only result in weaker students and employees, and ultimately a less innovative economy.
If you take a look at the top 10 top countries by PISA scores, you will notice that the United States is not listed.
The United States is actually ranked 18th. Those who are truly interested in the intellectual well-being of students should be more focused on how we can elevate ourselves to a top ranking, instead of squandering our resources on DEI, CRT, and other useless pursuits.
Restoring American Education
We are entering a new globalized and hypercompetitive economic state, and universities owe it to students to prepare them for this environment. The pursuit of equality is meaningless if standards remain in freefall.
Even our previous institutions, like Harvard, are riddled with political chaos, antisemitism, and elementary math courses. If the United States doesn’t move to reclaim the prowess of these institutions, it will take a long time for us to recover. Many people forget the decades and centuries of progress it took for us to reach this intellectual peak.
Students do not have to attend a traditional four-year university to become financially successful, and many are better off not pursuing this path. There are plenty of alternatives, such as pursuing the trades or other online programs, like the Peterson Academy.