My take is a bit different - admissions to elite universities have over time put more and more weight on extracurriculars
So, there should be no surprise when these admitted students then get to college and devote most of their time to…extracurriculars
“Full time” college students spend less than three hours per day in class or doing homework.
A downstream consequence of the marketization of higher education — the customers are getting what they want and what they want is easy classes.
slowboring.com/p/college-stud…
No, the market for international students is absolutely not zero sum!
People’s brains have been totally cooked by SFA v Harvard and the obsession with undergrad admissions
Not trying to be glib but I think if we’re going to destroy the productive partnership between government and academic R&D, there should be a compelling alternative model
I don’t see it yet
International students aren’t at places like Harvard to provide “diversity” (though they do that)
They’re there to provide research firepower and advance knowledge
People need to stop applying affirmative action jurisprudence to international students
"While foreign students bring one sort of diversity to U.S. universities, it may not be as great as the diversity provided by Americans of different social backgrounds."
@DavidAvromBellnytimes.com/2025/06/01/opi…
I don’t believe training PhD level scientists would be profitable in the free market at the level & number we’re talking about to maintain US leadership in STEM
It’s the kind of thing that requires real policy behind it
Great reporting here but for all the talk about divestment and transparency, I would hope someone simply asked the Harvard Corporation reps why the Harvard endowment gets a 2.9% rate of return
what’s terrible is that the administration had many natural allies in academia - professors who wanted more diversity in thought, fewer regulations governing research funding, higher & consistent academic standards, and better protections of academic speech
But not like this!
NEW and BREAKING: Another major blow for Harvard -- the Trump administration has essentially revoked Harvard's ability to enroll foreign students by taking away their ability to get visas. w/@MichaelCBendernytimes.com/2025/05/22/us/…
I wrote a piece for WSJ on the politics of NIH university funding
The reactions have been incredibly polarizing - not surprisingly!
Realistically I don’t think universities can get back to high indirects any time soon 🧵
