- US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon blasts American higher education, saying colleges are failing to deliver and must reform to stay relevant as alternatives multiply.
- McMahon criticized what she called a lack of leadership and basic principles, and increasing bureaucratization, and said colleges are losing public trust.
- McMahon recommends renewed dedication to free inquiry and "truth", as well as a renewed focus on preparing students for constructive civic and professional life.
"Decline is a choice, and too many college leaders have made that choice." — Harsh words from Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to an audience at Hillsdale College, where the Secretary delivered a critical speech on the state of US higher education, saying colleges and universities must reform to stay relevant.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SECRETARY'S SPEECH:
"If the four-year-degree model wants to compete, it must restore public trust," — the Secretary of Education criticizing what she calls a lack of leadership and basic principles, with bureaucratization and loss of public confidence in college education.
"There are so many administrators staffing the offices of our institutions of higher education….At the same time, how many true leaders do we really have? How many college presidents, provosts, and other officers with the courage and the accountability to deliver on the promises in the college brochure?" asked McMahon, saying this has resulted in decreasing relevance, with alternatives springing up and employers dropping four-year-degree requirements:
"The cultural and regulatory barriers that made college a default option, and the red tape blocking innovative post-secondary institutions….they're starting to come down."
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), enrollment in America's post-secondary institutions declined by 15% from 2010 and 2021. NCES projects total undergraduate enrollment will increase 9 percent between 2021 and 2031.
For colleges and universities to stay relevant, McMahon proposes a renewed dedication to free inquiry and "truth", as she puts it, as well as a renewed focus on preparing students for constructive civic and professional life, "…producing citizens who sustain America's economy and cultural vitality," said McMahon.
I reached out to the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the Michigan Association of State Colleges for comment, but did not hear back.
McMahon, alongside House Speaker Matt Hall, also stopped in Detroit as part of her "returning education to the states" tour.
Democratic State Representative Tonya Myers Phillips condemned McMahon's tour, calling it a "sham tour" and saying, in part: “To visit Detroit’s public schools while simultaneously stripping away the resources they need to succeed is dishonest, disingenuous, and harmful."
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