[Tax-chick]

Yet there is much about the status quo that simply cannot be defended.

Exactly. "Higher education" will no more reform itself than K-12 "education" will, and for the same reason. The main beneficiaries of the system - the tenured or unionized employees - have no motivation other than to increase their compensation and reduce their productivity.

There are individuals doing outstanding work in both systems, motivated by personal character, but the institutional incentives are all toward demanding more and doing less.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

....There are individuals doing outstanding work in both systems, motivated by personal character, but the institutional incentives are all toward demanding more and doing less.

Bump!