Why Are Colleges Failing and What Can Be Done?

by Richard K. Vedder

“Colleges routinely fail to educate their students, produce valuable research, or foster critical discussion, but—thanks to government support—they almost never fail to survive. In Let Colleges Fail, Richard Vedder, one of the world’s greatest collegiate whistleblowers, courageously calls for accountability. If schools can’t pass the market test, government can and should let them go out of business. Letting failed institutions die, though rarely popular, is immensely beneficial for society. And few institutions have failed society more egregiously than higher education.”
—Bryan Caplan, professor of economics, George Mason University

by Jason Brennan and Phillip Magness

Marshaling an array of data, Brennan and Magness expose many of the ethical failings of academia and in turn reshape our understanding of how such high power institutions run their business. Everyone knows academia is dysfunctional. Brennan and Magness show the problems are worse than anyone realized. Academics have only themselves to blame. At almost every level, the authors find that students, professors, and administrators are guided by self-interest rather than ethical concerns. College bureaucratic structures also often incentivize and reward bad behavior, while disincentivizing and even punishing good behavior. Most students, faculty, and administrators are out to serve themselves and pass their costs onto others.