College Can’t Be Only for the Rich - Commentary

Enoch Ellis, president of M.I.T.’s undergraduate association, studying chemical engineering and applied mathematics, and Siddhu Pachipala, an undergraduate studying political science at M.I.T., write:

Academia has become one of Washington’s favorite political punching bags. Colleges and universities are often accused of obsessing over race in admissions, peddling radical and anti-American ideologies and churning out too many students with impractical degrees and poor job prospects. Regardless of whether you subscribe to these criticisms, the message is loud and clear: Higher education has lost its way. As college students, we have had front-row seats to the debates over university course requirements, academic freedom and campus protests. We’ve noticed, too, that higher education has become increasingly unaffordable.