Why Western Higher Education Deserves To Fail — And How To Save It
Parents assert authority over curriculum as education policy becomes a defining cultural battleground.
The Wall Street Journal’s look at Syracuse reads less like a campus profile and more like an autopsy. Not long ago, the storyline was that only tiny private colleges would get squeezed by demographics and debt. Now we’re watching a big, brand-name school absorb the same hits, just with nicer buildings and a bigger PR shop.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
The American university is in trouble. The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted the struggles of one of the large and reputable American universities, Syracuse. Its feature notes in somewhat staggering detail just how much the institution is suffering, further arguing that what many thought would only hit small private schools has now hit major centers
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
The Wall Street Journal’s look at Syracuse reads less like a campus profile and more like an autopsy. Not long ago, the storyline was that only tiny private colleges would get squeezed by demographics and debt. Now we’re watching a big, brand-name school absorb the same hits, just with nicer buildings and a bigger PR shop. This isn’t a niche problem anymore.
It’s tempting to treat this as a one-off case of bad management. But the Syracuse details land because they feel familiar: high fixed costs, endless “initiatives,” and a price tag that asks families to gamble their future on a credential that may or may not deliver. For years, universities sold the idea that more administrators, more amenities, and more ideology were signs of “progress.” Turns out they were just overhead. When the bill comes due, students get stuck holding it.
We’re not rooting for universities to collapse. We’re saying the ones that refuse to change don’t deserve a bailout, and they definitely don’t deserve blind trust. Stop treating higher ed like a protected class. If a school can’t show where tuition dollars go, can’t justify its staffing bloat, and can’t keep politics from swallowing the classroom, then yes, it should shrink. A respected name isn’t a business model.
Saving higher education won’t come from another glossy rebrand. It comes from cutting costs hard, focusing on teaching again, partnering with employers who actually hire, and being honest about outcomes by major, not just average salaries in a brochure. Families are doing the math now. If Syracuse is struggling, everyone else should stop pretending this is someone else’s problem.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.