College

After more than 20 years of teaching, Delbanco (American studies & humanities, Columbia Univ.; Melville: His World and Work) believes Americans need to rethink the goals of university education and what kind of university can best achieve those goals. He emphasizes the importance of the undergraduate, residential experience, where students can develop their ethical as well as analytical intelligence. He criticizes the largest and most successful institutions for reducing the attention paid to undergraduates and engendering a sense of entitlement among students rather than social responsibility. He assigns blame broadly, pointing out that graduate training fails to teach future faculty about the importance of undergraduate education, while too many institutions have lost sight of the role of ethics and integrity in the curriculum. Delbanco recognizes the problems in contemporary higher education of high costs, limited access, low completion rates, and uncertain purpose, but he stresses the importance of staying focused on the core values of education while working to remedy the weaknesses.