Confidence in America’s higher education system is slipping, even as the government spends nearly half a trillion dollars a year on it. The average US taxpayer invests $1,700 a year in higher education – whether you went to college or not. And frustration with the system runs across the political spectrum – from anger over high tuition and student loan debt to concerns that universities are too liberal.

In this episode of Top of Mind, host Julie Rose explores what it would take for more of us to feel like we’re getting our money’s worth from our tax investment in higher education. We’ll look at new ways of defining success for universities, trace the history of government funding for higher education, unpack some of today’s biggest criticisms, and highlight a little-known college that tops the list of “Best Schools for Your Tuition and Tax Dollars

GUESTS

Paul Glastris,  editor-in-chief of Washington Monthly Magazine, publisher of alternative college rankings (https://washingtonmonthly.com/)

Christopher Loss,  professor of education and history at Vanderbilt University (https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691163345/between-citizens-and-the-state?srsltid=AfmBOoqHJIpoSu23FIEujBxu66SPPNrRJM1oh1uValB1A8y6aZGu3jk-)

Renu Mukherjee, fellow at the Manhattan Institute (https://manhattan.institute/)

Cullum Clark, director of the George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative (https://www.bushcenter.org/)

Cheryl Nixon, president of Berea College (https://www.berea.edu/)

Jordan Shands, Berea College alum and administrator of Ultimate Test Prep in Lexington, Kentucky (https://ultimatetestprep.com/lexington/jordans-schedule/)

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

04:06 Historical Funding of Colleges

05:44 WWII, The GI Bill & Post-War Education Boom

09:56 Modern Criticisms & Political Pressures

13:15 DEI Policies in Universities

22:13 Return on Taxpayer Investment

30:35 Advice for University Research Priorities

32:54 Alternative College Rankings

40:18 Berea College: A Unique Educational Model

41:17