Walter Williams posts an article today lamenting the sad state of American University education. Williams, himself a professor of economics at George Mason University, cites a number of whacko courses that illustrate the decay that abounds. I recall reading some time ago about the historical ignorance that contemporary university graduates display, but for those who missed it, here's a review:
According to a 2000 American Council of Trustees and Alumni study, "Losing America's Memory: Historical Illiteracy in the 21st Century," not one of the top 50 colleges and universities today requires American history of its graduates.
A survey conducted by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut gave 81 percent of the seniors a D or F in their knowledge of American history. The students could not identify Valley Forge, or words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution. A survey released by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that American adults could more readily identify Simpson cartoon characters than name freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment.
The academic dishonesty doesn't end with phony courses and lack of a solid core curriculum; there's grossly fraudulent grading, euphemistically called grade inflation. For example, Harvard's Educational Policy Committee found that some professors award A's for average work. A Boston Globe study found that 91 percent of Harvard seniors graduated with honors, that means all A's and a few B's.
I doubt whether these "honor" students could pass a 1950 high school graduation examination. According to the Department of Education's 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only 31 percent of college graduates were proficient in prose, only 25 percent proficient in reading documents and 31 percent proficient in math.
Walter Williams suggests that it is beyond time for university trustees to cease being rubber stamps and begin to exert their authority. A good idea, he says, would be to hire a campus ombudsman and a staff that's accountable only to the trustees.