New book on the horrible state of higher education offers insights, provokes questions

August 10, 2026 - 19:41

It is worth stating plainly that higher education still does many things well. My own ability to read Latin, such as it is, came from a superb classics department at a large public university, and that kind of rigorous, traditional training remains alive in scattered corners of the academy. But a new book argues that those bright spots are becoming the exception rather than the rule, and its diagnosis is uncomfortable for anyone who cares about universities.

The author does not simply recycle familiar complaints about rising tuition or administrative bloat, though both appear here. Instead, the book digs into the quieter failures: the slow erosion of coherent curricula, the pressure on faculty to prioritize grant money over teaching, and the way that vague mission statements have replaced clear intellectual purpose. What emerges is a portrait of institutions that have lost confidence in their own reason for existing.

What makes the book valuable is not just the criticism, but the questions it forces. If a degree no longer signals a broad education, what does it signal? If departments compete for students like businesses chase customers, who protects the disciplines that do not pay well but still matter? The author offers no easy answers, and that is probably a strength. A reader finishes the book feeling less certain about the future of higher education, but more aware of what is at stake. It is a timely contribution to a conversation that too often stays at the surface.