AKA Review - 12.06.2024

From The Atlantic
How the Ivy League Broke America
By David Brooks

In one of the year’s most clearheaded looks at education, access, and merit, NY Times columnist David Brooks highlights the failures of our “intelligence-based meritocracy”—how a system designed to favor intellectual ability over family wealth and status led instead to a society of rigid caste lines and income inequality. Brooks identifies four crucial human qualities and, with clear data and vivid examples, shows how we might create from them a new meritocracy that would lead to a fairer society and “help each person pursue [their] ruling passion.” Read this article

From The New York Times

A Star President’s Resignation Was a Mystery. Was It All About Rankings?

By Stephanie Saul

The oversized salary and spending of University of Florida’s departed president Ben Sasse provided lots of grist for rumors behind his resignation. This article suggests another reason. Few places follow the U.S. News & World Report rankings more obsessively than Florida—#5 among public universities nationally when Sasse arrived. His criticism of this as “outsource[ing] judgments” about what to focus on, followed by a drop to #7 and blowback from the University's board, point to an effect of college rankings that many in higher ed are sadly familiar with. Read this article

From The Washington Post
It’s becoming easier to get into many colleges
By Jon Marcuswith

There’s a paradox in college admissions today. The declining number of applicants has made admission easier at all but the most selective institutions. However, the marketing efforts of even nonselective colleges cultivate an image of selectivity, creating the widespread view among students that admission to college is becoming harder. This and other factors—including greatly expanded use of binding early-decision admission—discourage low-income, minority, and other underrepresented groups from even applying. Read this article

From University World News
95% of Black, Latinx and Indigenous students highly value HE
By Nathan M. Greenfield

In light of declining public confidence in higher ed and attacks on affirmative action, the results of this survey are compelling. The low rate at which Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students attain degrees has led to a narrative that they do not value a college degree. With hard data and vivid interviews, this study gives that myth the lie. Despite economic hardship and discrimination, these students value college more than any others—not only for the economic returns it leads to but for the personal growth and community empowerment it brings. Read this article

From The Chronicle of Higher Education
Meet Professor Robot
By Jack Stripling

This podcast with tech reporter Taylor Swaak offers a more human, on-the-ground look at AI than the many articles on its technology and ethics. Swaak examines how courseware—technology capable of much of what professors have historically done—may reduce human relationships long at the heart of the college experience. One result is loss of the personalized learning experiences students expect. By automating the mundane functions of teaching, however, the technology can also increase time for meaningful face-to-face interactions. Read this article (scroll down for transcript of podcast)