Hoped-For Change Derailed

Accuracy in Academia ^ | August 20, 2010 | Malcolm A. Kline

[AccuracyAcademia]

Scholars who go against the academic grain and suffer the consequences for their apostasy have pinned some hopes for change on developing technology. “Already I have begun to encounter university colleagues, marginalized for their conservative views or for their dissatisfaction with the way things are done, who are looking for other ways of continuing the great tradition of higher learning, and of passing on to the next generation some of the knowledge that was passed onto them,” Roger Scrutton writes in the September 2010 issue of The American Spectator.

“Such is the prevailing spirit in America, that I suspect the cyber-university will be a day-to-day reality, long before the old universities wake up to the fact that they have priced themselves out of the market.” Perhaps, but they are not giving up without a fight, or without allies or enablers, some of whom may surprise you.

“Under DOE Secretary Margaret Spellings the Bush Administration directed a little known appointed board to revoke the charter of the American Academy for Liberal Education,” Richard Bishirjian, the president of Yorktown University notes. “This capricious action aimed at the only conservative accrediting association sent a signal to the Left: In order to control higher education, all you have to do is threaten to revoke the charter of accrediting associations.”

Yorktown is an online university. Spellings named the Department of Education’s building after fellow Texan Lyndon B. Johnson.

“Hillsdale College under the late George Roche chose not to participate in U. S. government tuition assistance programs,” Bishirjian observes. “He argued that this would entail federal control.”

“True enough, but as a result of the politicization of the system of accreditation started by Margaret Spellings and now continued by Arne Duncan, little Hillsdale must toe the DOE line—or lose its regional accreditation.”

[FrankR]

[TexasFreeper2009]

As long as Government is paying for it (in the form of loans and grants) college tuition will continue to go up.

[ConservativeDude]

Accreditation = attempt to control, as this article makes clear.

With friends like Spellings, who needs enemies?

[Free_at_last_-2001]

…but they are not giving up without a fightInteresting… I knew someone involved in building an online university and the "red brick" universities did not like it they refused to get involved without extreme persuasion and then the contribution was lethargic at best (even for university types). I heard of a similar situation from a colleague who had been involved in designing and building an online conference centre for the global warming community with a graph on the front page showing the amount of C02 they would save by not traveling to the host countries around the world. Were they delighted? Hell no! They did not like this one bit and all financial support was eventually withdrawn from the company building these sites.
Universities see the liberalization of their students as their top priority (17-19 communist goals below) and online education restricts their ability to achieve these goals.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

Source: Congressional Record, Vol. 109 88th Congress, 1st Session Appendix Pages A1-A2842 Jan. 9-May 7, 1963 Reel 12
Web: http://www.rense.com/general32/americ.htm

I always thought that online education was an excellent way to counteract the propaganda system of education that exists in most western countries at the moment not just in universities but at all stages of learning.