Reading Recommendation | ‘Stop Blaming Colleges for Society’s Problems: The value of an elite education remains unparalleled’

Reading Recommendation | David A. Bell’s article on NewRepublic.com, “Stop Blaming Colleges for Society’s Problems: The value of an elite education remains unparalleled”

This is a thoughtful piece on why universities will survive, and in fact thrive, in an era of free, online courses and concern over the value of a college education, and at a time in which some critics compare higher education’s fate to that of the recording  industry. True, universities need to adapt and innovate and respond to the ways in which students learn today. PLU is in the process of creating our own unique blended learning courses with the PLUTO project, PLU Teaching Online. However, there will always be a need for close faculty- student connections, for as David Bell notes in this article – “If mastering complex and difficult subjects were simply a matter of access to “content,” as many of the universities’ doomsayers seems to assume, then it would not require universities at all, online or in person. Simply reading a book would suffice.” Read on, and tell me what you think about Mr. Bell’s thoughts on the future of universities, and their place in the world.