See Thru Edu is a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation
Thomas K. Lindsay, Ph.D., Editor in Chief and Director, Center for Higher Education, Texas Public Policy Foundation
Many students who would be otherwise disinterested in higher education force themselves to attempt college with the hope that it will help them get a foot in the door to a good job. Now, a new company, Strive Talent, is offering some of those reluctant students an alternative path to employment.
The idea that college after high school should be the norm is now so entrenched that one state (New Mexico) is considering a bill that would force high school juniors to apply to college.
“A Tale of Two Columbia Classes,” written by undergrad Coleman Hughes, compares two philosophy classes he took in his second year: “Methods and Problems of Philosophical Thought” and “Philosophy and Feminism.”
The idea of higher ed reinventing itself in response to changed realities truly excites – and even inspires.
The bottom line is this: If a public institution takes government funding, it must comply with the First Amendment and free speech.
It’s early yet for most state legislative sessions, but Wisconsin, Michigan, California, West Virginia, and Nebraska lawmakers, to name a few, are considering proposals to protect free speech on college campuses this year.
I suggested that we abolish tenure, pay a salary premium of 25% over competing colleges, and thereby attract highly competent faculty who didn’t need tenure. My colleagues looked at me like I had just stepped out of an alien spaceship.
A wave of support for legislative efforts to restore free speech and debate on campus appears to be taking shape in a number of states across the country.
Only a third of students believe they will graduate with the skills and knowledge to be successful in the job market (34 percent) and in the workplace (36 percent). Just half (53 percent) believe their major will lead to a good job.
On January 31, the Texas Senate’s State Affairs Committee will travel to Texas State University in San Marcos to hold a hearing to “ascertain any restrictions on Freedom of Speech rights that Texas students face in expressing their views on campus.”
