Harvard’s Former President Responds to Attacks on Elite Colleges

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | July 31, 2024 | George Leef

[karpov]

Derek Bok has served as president of Harvard twice, from 1971 to 1991 and again from 2006-07. He has written much about higher education and is by no means a reflexive defender of the status quo—see, for example, his The Struggle to Reform Our Colleges, which I reviewed here.

Bok’s latest book is Attacking the Elites: What Critics Get Wrong—and Right—About America’s Leading Universities. He explains that his motivation for it was the absence of response from our “elite” higher-education institutions to the surge in criticism from both sides of our political divide. As his subtitle suggests, he thinks that much of the criticism is weak, but not all of it. Since many will read the book (or at least its title) and say, “Bravo to Bok for answering those pesky critics,” let’s see how well he’s done.

First, Bok ruminates about what it means to be an “elite” college or university and whether the nation benefits from having them. The elite schools, he says, are distinctive by virtue of admitting only a small percentage of their applicants (they’re selective), because they employ professors with stellar reputations (on the basis of having published lots of books), and because they have high rankings in the places that purport to tell us which schools are best.

Fine, but does this “eliteness” necessarily lead to excellent education? Later in the book, Bok admits that there are reasons to doubt that.

More significantly, is it good for the U.S. to have such colleges and universities?

[Rockingham]

I went to a semi-elite private university in the South in the 70s. It's faculty included many liberals, a core of old school non-ideological types devoted to the educational mission, and few conservatives. I got two significant intellectual assets: an ability to write coherent, grammatically correct English, and a genuine understanding of history. Nowadays, I could get both via the internet at a small fraction of the time and cost.

[albie]

“Anything more than a 2 year degree is a waste of time and a waste of BIG money.”

...really? Engineering, Medicine, Law?

[wjcsux]

“Anything more than a 2 year degree is a waste of time and a waste of BIG money. Definitely an avoid!”
Yep! Spend $30-40 k and send your kids to a good trade school. If they do well, they can step into a high five figure job the day after they graduate.

[ReagansShinyHair]

This is the same guy who wrote The Shape of the River as a rebuttal to The Bell Curve many years ago. His arguments weren’t cogent then and I’m not inclined to listen to what he has to say now.

[LongWayHome]

I remember that. He’s a typical go-along get-along academic.

[KevinB]

Bezos graduated Princeton with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. That was an education that prepared him well for what followed.

[bray]

Have they decided not to make Jews wear Yellow Stars?

[Herakles]

Bezos didn’t built Amazon Inqutel did!

[hinckley buzzard]

A good liberal arts education can be invaluable, but the fly in the ointment is finding a “good” one. Forget the elite universities, if that’s what you are looking for. You won’t find a good one there. Start with Hillsdale college.