The Department of Education just released a draft report on the state of higher education in the US. Among other points it accuses higher education of being “risk-averse, frequently self-satisfied, and unduly expensive,” and having an “unseemly complacency about the future.” The report argues that academia "has yet to successfully confront the impact of globalization, rapidly evolving technologies, an increasingly diverse and aging population, and an evolving marketplace." In addition, the report criticizes the lack of comparable data on learning outcomes--how much students actually learn from one school to the next.
Needless to say, academic administrators are unhappy with the report, which they see as unfair. Read the report itself here; and some responses here.
