Fishy Higher Ed Reforms

Two new online exclusives on private initiatives to reform higher education: James Dennis on the CUNY Pathways Initiative and Geoff Shullenberger on the rise of the MOOCs.

Two new online exclusives on private initiatives to reform higher education:

In an effort to make CUNY more efficient (that is, graduate more students for the same number of dollars), Pathways would undermine the traditional liberal undergraduate curriculum—where students are expected to study and master the basics of a vast array of different subjects—and replace it with a stripped down “common core” that simplifies graduation and transfer at the expense of rigor and academic standards…Read more on the CUNY Pathways Initiative

Most pro-MOOC coverage fails to mention that high-quality education at no or little cost has been a progressive political goal for over a century, and was to some extent realized for several decades….The fact that we now look to the Silicon Valley to “democratize” education indicates how successful that project has been: even those who care about public goods like universal access to education are willing to let the world of hi-tech entrepreneurship take up the burden….Read more on “MOOC Mania”