UCLA Protests and the Deterioration of Higher Education
Friday, November 20th, 2009
The University of California erupted in protest this week after its Board of Regents announced that student fees—the University’s equivalent of tuition—would be raised by 32 percent. Hundreds of students protested the fee hikes, according to the New York Times, some barricading themselves in university buildings, setting up tent cities on campus, and 12 UCLA students have been arrested.
The University of California’s move is simply the latest in a long-standing trend of disinvestment in higher education. For the latest episode of the UtneCast, I spoke with David Kirp, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and the author of the book Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education, to talk about how the compact between universities and state governments has broken down. The current recession is making the situation worse, but there is no guarantee that higher education will improve with the economy. In fact, the United States is in danger of losing out on the “education for all” philosophy that may be the most important economic driver in the world economy.
You can listen to that interview above, or subscribe to the UtneCast on iTunes.
Image by Chris Radcliff, licensed under Creative Commons.
Hello UtneCast listeners. The Utne Reader editorial staff is in the process of improving and rethinking what the UtneCast is, and what it could be. So we’re turning to our listeners, and including all of you in the process.
Right now, congress is negotiating a $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street. For most people, $700 billion is an inconceivable figure. “The mind boggles,” Joel Best writes in his new book, 
