The way forward is to abjure easy and satisfying libertarian reflexes like abolishing tenure or cutting funding to universities, grants and loan programmes...
Conservatives cannot afford to give up on universities by cutting funding, nor can they rely on a tiny number of private conservative institutions like Hillsdale, or conservative-friendly ones like the University of Austin. They must use the state to reform the Leviathan that is higher education.
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There is little doubt that universities are ideologically captured by the left – something that is now affecting public opinion. A new Gallup survey shows that Americans’ confidence in universities has tanked from 57 percent in 2015 to 36 percent in 2023. Part of this is due to soaring fees and student debt. Yet Republican voters’ confidence has plunged most, from 56 percent in 2015 to 19 percent today.
Other studies find similarly large partisan gaps, with New America reporting that 75 percent of Democrats, but just 37 percent of Republicans, agree that universities are having a positive effect on society. I found that only 34 percent of Republicans trust social sciences and humanities (SSH) professors, compared to 81 percent of Democrats. For science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the gap is narrower at 89 to 67. This is not because college voters have migrated to the Democrats and populist voters tend to lack degrees. Among Republicans, trust in professors is the same for those with and without a degree.
Continue reading the entire piece here at Aporia
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Eric Kaufmann is professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London and an adjunct fellow of the Manhattan Institute.
Photo by APCortizasJr/iStock
