US Elite Universities Have Lost Their Way: Allison Schrager

If you doubt that America’s elite universities have lost their way, consider that, as part of a settlement with the Trump administration, Harvard is considering building trade schools. Whatever Harvard’s comparative advantage is — and it has many! — it is not in vocational education.

US colleges and universities attract the world’s best students and academics, and produce research that powers the global economy. But the share of Americans who have a lot of trust in higher education has declined 15 percentage points over the last decade, to 42% — and trust in the Ivy League stands at just 15% ...