Bret Devereaux

...while we benefit from the advantages of having all of that world-class research happening here rather than somewhere else or not at all. I see no good reason, given that we've built all of the infrastructure, not to make higher education a major American export. 19/25

And finally 4) there needs to be a concerted effort to explain *to voters* (not students!) the benefits that having world class universities provides for them even if they do not attend those universities or any university or college at all. 20/25

Beyond that, the university needs to make the same argument as an institution. And it isn't a hard argument to make, generally. Take North Carolina. NC is not a rich state - we're about 40th (out of 50). But NC has a bunch of world-class universities and a good... 22/25

...overall state university system, mostly because the state invested in that (and also Duke exists, I guess...). And it just isn't hard to look at where economic growth is happening in NC, and to look at NC's growth compared to neighboring states, to see the impact. 23/25

The UNC system is pretty clearly a good investment for the state in the long run. We need to be defending it on those grounds because we can't rely on 'elite consensus' about the value of higher education to get funding anymore. 24/25

And that is my long-winded point: the glory days of research being funded because the state and elite wanted it are 1) not that glorious and 2) over. We need to focus on building public support, which means explaining the value to folks who will not attend out schools. end/25

Very interesting points! Agree on the shift back from elite. Disagree that we need to play by market rules and when it comes to rankings. They rarely reflect the actual value of research and teaching and are a byproduct of marketization and thus not suited to measure its impact.