Katherine Mangu-Ward on America's Failing Higher Education System

|

Credit: Whitehouse.gov

The American higher education system is the envy of the world, or so the cliché goes. The sons and daughters of foreign potentates flock to our shores, while kids raised on apple pie and Sesame Street claw each others' eyes out for the chance to attend a top university. With more than 18 million current undergraduates—who pay average annual tuition of $32,000 each—the market for higher education seems to be going gangbusters. So why, writes Katherine Mangu-Ward, are we screwing up the world's best higher education system?