Not enough conservatives on college campuses, senator says
“How many conservative speakers are invited to deliver commencement addresses? How many colleges require courses in U.S. history? How many even teach Western Civilization? … Those are politically unacceptable topics,” the Tennessee Republican testified before the Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
The commission ?created by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings this fall ? met in Nashville Thursday and Friday and will hold similar meetings across the country over the next several months. The next will be in San Diego in February.
By Aug. 1, the commission must recommend how to make colleges more accessible and affordable for families, accountable to policy-makers and competitive with peers worldwide.
Federal policy-makers are also worried that the nation’s colleges are not producing enough qualified workers and researchers, particularly in math, science and engineering. A string of government and independent reports has raised alarm about U.S. competitiveness.
Alexander told the commission part of what government needs to do is offer green cards and other options that make it easier for foreign students who study math, science, engineering in the U.S. to be able to stay here.
The college review is the most significant higher education initiative by the Bush administration, which is better known for its focus on reading and math in early grades with the No Child Left Behind Act.
The commission is composed of leaders from academia and business along with officials from the departments of Defense, Energy, Commerce and Labor.
Alexander, who was the former U.S. Secretary of Education and president of the University of Tennessee, said colleges need to bring in more speakers and academics “with a different point of view from the prevailing point of view.
“I know it’s the single biggest criticism I hear of higher education, because I’m always the one saying ‘Let’s have more money for colleges and universities,'” Alexander said. “The biggest thing I get thrown back in my face is ‘They’re politically one-sided. Why should I support them?'”
Pat Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, an advocacy group, said what threatens college funding more is that states are giving less to higher education because they must pay more to help fund Medicaid, the nation’s health care program for the poor.
“It’s the biggest single concern we have,” Callan said. States currently appropriate about $70 billion to colleges, much of the funding that keeps them running, he said.
Alexander agreed and told commission members Congress needs to overhaul Medicaid so states have to contribute less. From 2000-04, state spending for the program was up 36 percent while spending for higher education was up 6.8 percent, he said.
Higher education will continue to “suffer over the next decade if this trend continues,” he said.