The Slow Death of the University
I wonder if this death of criticism is misty eyed nastolgia for a future that either never, or rarely existed.<p>Let's not forget that our so-called great universities:<p>- For a long time excluded women, Jews and many minorities.<p>- Were the providence of only the technocratic elite.<p>- Did very little research before the 20th century.<p>And now that the costs escalate out of control, is it any wonder that they have to go more commercial?<p>Some back of the envelope math: If every student takes 10 classes a year (5 per semester) and every professor teaches 5 classes per year to 20 students each, and gets paid 100K all-in, then the per-student faculty labor cost is 100K<i>10/(20</i>5) = 10K per year.  That's not too bad for critical learning.  Expand the classes to 40 and you can cut the cost in half, or give the faculty a big raise.