What's wrong with college? Plenty

And it is pretty much all of their own doing.

Some of what prompted this post came from this recent research. College students believe that college is"too hard." The problem is not that college is too hard. Rather, students are unprepared for college while also being told that they are entitled to attend, entitled to 'affordable' tuition (for some), and entitled to achieve equal outcomes from their college, regardless of their talent, skill, effort or persistence, all of which are necessary for a quality education and none of which the college can provide.

And it gets worse

DIE. The explosive emergence of the nonsensical mantra, "diversity, inclusion, equity"has squeezed out most of not all hope of creating a college and providing an education that is based on merit, academic rigor, substance, critical thinking and essential differentiation of outcomes.

Mental health. Exacerbated by progressive Covid and DIE policies, colleges today are hotbeds of one type of mental health crisis after another, little of which the college can handle, even as they ramp up their "mental health budget" and promise safe spaces and comfort to those who claim affliction, victimization, racism and other forms of academic and social challenges on campus. Interpersonal skills have been replaced by social media bullying, 'liking,' and following of often suspect "influencers," where students spend more time following the Kardashians than they do following lectures or doing homework.

Absence of admissions standards. As admissions standards evaporate, grade inflation rises, and the employability of many majors disappears, colleges have created a perfect storm for society, costing parents and taxpayers trillions of dollars, telling prospective students that they have a right to attend and a price they'd prefer, creating fraudulent "financial aid" packages, and promoting useless degrees, classes and majors.

Absence of academic standards. Once colleges abandoned admissions standards, it should come as no surprise that they would have to abandon grading and performance standards to accommodate those students unwilling or unable to perform. Rising grade inflation is only part of the story; content-free courses make the grades awarded meaningless as an assessment of any knowledge acquired and any USEFUL knowledge acquired, along with being irrelevant for subsequent courses or post-college value.

Absence of academic rigor. The faux assertions of academic freedom allow some professors and some departments to create courses with little or no content and, as a result, little or no rigor. There is no basis upon which to judge performance. Meanwhile these same schools legislate against free speech on campus. Diversity in discourse has been replaced by race-based diversity and cancellation of free speech.

Administrative bloat. All these unprepared, unmotivated, unskilled, triggered and uneducated students require a plethora of administrators and programs to coddle students when better they get a sharp does of reality and a challenge, and not a hug, a mental health "professional" or a safe space.

Reducing spending on actual instruction, education. As a result of all these woke and progressive academic initiatives, spending shifts from teaching to administering, from adding value to adding overhead. The percent of the college budget that goes into the classroom -- not just into the academic affairs component -- is shrinking, most visible with the use of low-paid, part-time adjuncts to replace higher paid, full-time faculty.

This morning I found myself thinking that -- in a way -- attending college has become similar to the "smash and grab" shoplifting epidemic that America has witnessed with the lax criminal justice and bail system many cities have adopted. Colleges, like the cities, are willing to give up their degrees without expecting students to learn or to accomplish anything.

Then I saw a clip from a recent "Tulsa King"episode, where Stallone's character asserts that college is not much more than showing a potential employer that you could show up for work for four years, complete some basic tasks -- and on time -- and demonstrate some level of persistence. My fear is that is too noble of a description of what college actually does today, where there are no stringent requirements, either to show up or to demonstrate some level of meritorious performance.

In response to an email from a Loyola colleague, citing the colleges now dropping more requirements for their MBA programs, I responded:

The elimination of merit, standards, academic integrity, and financial transparency by colleges is nothing short of a death wish, all disguised as social justice, equity and inclusion — virtue signaling all, to keep academics and administrators employed, engaged in meaningless tasks.