Higher education‘s repudiation of the federal government’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education is not about the technical details of the proposal or the tortured definition of “academic freedom” onto which some have fallen back. It is really saying, “Leave us alone and give us that to which we are entitled.” Until now, there has been little or no accountability for higher ed for the hundreds of billions of dollars of subsidies they receive each year. The federal investment in outstanding student loans alone totals $1.7 trillion.
The compact is about refocusing the sector on the core reasons the federal government makes these investments in the first place — and the very things have made it central to American leadership and success: Promoting good citizenship, equal treatment of all students, open dialogues, civil and safe communities, rigorous instruction, quality research and scholarship, merit-based admissions and promotions, transparency about the value of their degrees. Good solid American values.
