In this episode of Cow Guy Close, I joined Scott Shellady to discuss a growing shift in how Americans view higher education.
Recent polling shows that a majority of Americans no longer believe college is worth the cost, a dramatic change from just a decade ago. I’m not surprised.
In our conversation, I explain why I believe colleges and universities are largely responsible for this decline in trust. Over time, many institutions have moved away from their core mission of education and toward ideological indoctrination. At the same time, rising costs and excessive fees have made higher education less accessible and less valuable.
Having spent decades in academia before leaving in 2017, I’ve seen these changes firsthand.
We also discuss how universities are now being forced to confront reality. With competition from trade schools, alternative career paths, and emerging technologies like AI, colleges must rethink their business models if they want to survive.
Higher education has the potential to transform lives, it certainly did for me. But for it to regain public trust, it must return to its original purpose: educating students, not shaping ideology.
