Universities are studying how they lost the public's trust

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/higher-education-universities-public-trust/687714/

by helloplanets • 23 days ago

6 7 23 days ago

I can't read the article, but if I were to venture a guess I would focus on these things for contributing to the loss of prestige:

- falsification of research results from academic researchers

- tuition increases at double the cost of living (inflation) increases...and a majority of people not able to pay these tuitions

- fewer jobs available that require a university degree and credentials

- loss of "intellectual authority" due to changes in public opinion (conservative leaning) and AI technology gains in authority

- evidence of large scale financial mismanagement and poor decision-making: my college has hired and fired 3 presidents in the past 10 years and now pays a salary all of them

- inability to keep curricula up to date relative to the rapidly changing world

- fewer academic researchers willing to teach

- higher quality programs at community colleges at much lower tuitions with better teachers

- public scandals about celebrities "buying" entrance to elite schools by cheating on exams

- public scandals about students using AI to do their work for them

- COVID changes and realizations of how colleges really work when stressed

- ...and much more

kgwxd• 23 days ago

They fact they say they're researching it, is THE problem. They know everything you said. This is them saying "just shut up and pay your tuition".

dlcarrier2• 23 days ago

I disabled JavaScript, then the page loaded fine.

ThrowawayR2• 23 days ago

Archive link: https://archive.is/Vltaq

k310• 23 days ago

A lot focuses on politics. It's understandable that universities will react when the right attacks them as elitist and liberal (something they attribute to mainstream media, which is both hilarious and sad).

IMO, the anti-education agenda springs from the "Big Brother" need to discredit facts and inquiry and to rewrite history, as in "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" by the fictional Emmanuel Goldstein. [0]

Of course, prestige, which Universities mainly sold, must come from party membership.

I am sure that universities will diligently study thus matter, and by the time that committees finally report, things will have changed.

Democratization is good, but populism, in the rabble-rousing sense is dangerous, and the opposite of democratization, since it's usually fomented by smart but ill-intentioned Bond villains.

Vance and his tech-bro buddies immigrants Musk and Thiel, both perfect Bond villains themselves, are poised to bring their twisted technocratic rule when their predecessor has his last hamberder.

Is Vance a Bond villain? Perhaps he only looks like one. [1] pic at imgbb.com

[0]https://genius.com/Emmanuel-goldstein-the-theory-and-practic...

[1] https://i.ibb.co/35mX9xFH/minidrax2d-2-copy.jpg

dlcarrier2• 23 days ago

Check out We Have Never Been Woke by Musa al-Gharbi: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691232607/we...

It documents historic cycles of elite overproduction and corrections. Universities have been playing an ever increasing role on that cycle.

4d4m• 23 days ago

Easy answer:

They created and enabled a culture of rightthink, wrongthink, and identity politics instead of developing curious, critical thinkers. This was done through leadership, tenure, and icing out anyone that dared to arm students with the tools to challenge what have turned out to be silly assumptions. They made it risky to have an opinion as a student, and the students didn't do well in the market that requires adaptability and introspection. The most close-minded people I’ve met are in academia. Many struggle to discuss anything unless it matches their exact viewpoint verbatim. There's no study needed, the world has moved on and decided this education isn't worth the paper it's printed on for many roles.

Source: Designed apps that enable hiring millions of STARs. My work for SkyHive brought millions of people jobs and employers labor they desperately need. SkyHive was acquired by Cornerstone on Demand and this movement has only sped up as companies re-set their expectations of who gets the work done.

Universities are studying how they lost the public's trust

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