In the most devastating critique of American higher education ever produced, author George Roche explains how and why the smoke screen of success in America's institutions of higher education mask huge deficits, overpaid administrators and professors, and dismal standards of education. American colleges and universities are the envy of the world. They are prided for offering the finest education available. But do they live up to their reputation? The Fall of the Ivory Tower proves they do not, largely for one reason - government funding. For decades, money from the government has encouraged schools to overspend, overstaff, and overbuild. It has subsidized skyrocketing tuition, fiscal mismanagement, and institutional corruption. Ultimately, it has forced many colleges and universities to change their top priority from educating undergraduates to attracting government funds. In spite of the massive infusion of money - including federal aid, which has doubled over the last few years - Dr. Roche reports that "tens of thousands of students don't know when Columbus sailed to the New World, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, or when the Civil War was fought. Businesses complain that they have to re-educate college graduates in the basics of math and English, and parents protest that tuition costs are far beyond their ability to pay." Government subsidy has created an academic welfare state that will have to suffer radical change if America's educational institutions are to survive. The Fall of the Ivory Tower explains how and why the nationwide financial crisis that threatens to put many institutions out of business may become good news by offering an opportunity to restore authorityand accountability to their most valuable asset - the student.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book will make you think!,
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This review is from: The Fall of the Ivory Tower: Government Funding, Corruption, and the Bankrupting of American Higher Education (Hardcover)
Roche gets on his soapbox and writes a passionate and powerful book blaming too much governmental intervention for most of the problems facing higher education today. Extremely conservative and proud of it, he bashes political correctness, affirmative action, and other fun and controversial topics. While it's hard to swallow all aspects of his EXTREMELY broad theory, he does make a strong case for it that will make you stop and think. It's a fascinating book, a surprisingly easy read!
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Attack on Government Funding,
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This review is from: The Fall of the Ivory Tower: Government Funding, Corruption, and the Bankrupting of American Higher Education (Hardcover)
George Roche, the author of this book, is the president of Hillsdale College, a school that has fought tooth and nail to keep the damaging hands of the federal government out of their institution. Roche wrote this book to expose why a school should try and avoid federal intervention through funding. The reason, quite simply, is the corruption and loss of control that the school will suffer as a result of this intervention.The amount of information this book throws at the reader is absolutely astounding. By piling on statistic after statistic, Roche shows how corrupt our system of higher education has become. These statistics show how deeply in debt universities have become by greedily sucking up federal money, and then expanding their programs, facilities, and tuition discounts and financial aid programs. When funding is reduced due to a lackluster economy, schools are finding themselves in serious economic trouble. Many have to make massive cutbacks in programs and faculty to stay afloat. Some smaller schools have had to merge to survive. Some have closed their doors. Roche attributes all of these problems to the reliance of universities on federal funding. Roche shows how schools have become so dependent on funding by tracing a history of incremental encroachment by the government into education. Beginning with the Morrill Act through the G.I. Bill and the 1992 Educational Acts, Roche reveals a sinister plan to use federal monies to exert control over education. This control is expressed in such travesties as Affirmative Action, diversity studies, multiculturalism, and other infections that have sapped higher education of it's primary mission: educating America's youth. Roche also examines how athletics has grown so powerful that it not only sucks up funds that should be going to academics, but that it is also loaded with corruption that undermines the academic potential of its athletes. He also exposes how weak the administration is in dealing with faculty and students. Roche explains that the president of the university is reduced to a fundraiser, and that any attempt by officials to make decisions that may have an effect on academics are often shouted down by faculty or student groups. Most college presidents last about three years before they are forced to move on in the face of opposition from their own schools. This is in contrast to a time when an administrator would stay for an entire career and actually be able to shape the vision of a school. Roche uses mountains of sources to make his arguments. While this is an effective way of waging his battle, it also serves to make some of the reading extremely boring. I have a tendency to glaze over a bit when confronted with statistics, so some parts of the book were tough to get through. It is worth sticking it out, since the last part of the book is when Roche lambasts all of the politically correct junk that academe has been trying to stuff down our throats for years. Just try and read the list of "research" books that scholars have published over the years without laughing! A good book, if somewhat dated. Worth reading.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
At least one contradiction...,
By
This review is from: The Fall of the Ivory Tower: Government Funding, Corruption, and the Bankrupting of American Higher Education (Paperback)
In the book, Roche complains that high presidential salaries are an example of corruption in universities. Some universities pay presidents more than $400,000 per year! However, according to Forbes magazine, at one point in his tenure Roche himself was making $524,000 per year.
Oh well. He's not a president anymore. Maybe he's changed his mind.
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