How America's Colleges Compare Internationally

Ashley Thorne

Kevin Carey of the New America Foundation has a sobering article in last Sunday’s New York Times. He writes that while Americans perceive the K-12 education system as seriously broken, we assume that our higher education is doing great. He noted that the wording matters:

When President Obama has said, “We have the best universities,” he has not meant: “Our universities are, on average, the best” — even though that’s what many people hear. He means, “Of the best universities, most are ours.” The distinction is important.

Even though most of the globally top-ranked universities are American ones, on the whole, people educated in American universities score lower than average on a literacy and math test, compared with people who attended college in other countries. Carey cites an assessment published in late 2013 by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) which surveyed adults in 24 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as Australia. U.S. performance on the test, even performance by the college-educated, presented a dismal picture of our country’s intellectual competence in relation to that of our foreign neighbors.

Carey concludes that Americans must open their eyes to the poor quality of education in U.S. colleges. If the nation’s prosperity rests on its people’s ingenuity and innovation, it’s time we start paying close attention to the higher education of our rising generations.

  • Share

Most Commented

January 24, 2024

1.

After Claudine

The idea has caught on that the radical left overplayed its hand in DEI and is now vulnerable to those of us who seek major reforms. This is not, however, the first time that the a......

February 13, 2024

2.

The Great Academic Divorce with China

All signs show that American education is beginning a long and painful divorce with the People’s Republic of China. But will academia go through with it?...

October 31, 2023

3.

University of Washington Violated Non-Discrimination Policy, Internal Report Finds

A faculty hiring committee at the University of Washington “inappropriately considered candidates’ races when determining the order of offers,” provided “disparate op......

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

July 8, 2011

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Is Structural-Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism?

Professor Jonathan Imber clarifies concepts of sociologocal theory....