Support the Research Universities Before It Is Too Late!

From an review in The Economist of The Great American University: Its Rise to Pre-eminence, Its Indispensable National Role, Why It Must Be Protected by Jonathan R. Cole:

WHAT do the following have in common: the bar code, congestion charging, the cervical Pap smear and the internet? All emerged from work done at America’s pre-eminent research universities......

In the post-war era, the research universities—he reckons about 260 institutions might now claim the name, of which maybe 100 are key—became far larger and more complex. Many turned into “full service” universities, with a clutch of professional schools teaching business, medicine, law and engineering. A flood of federal and foundation funding increased the size of individual departments, bringing benefits of scale. Success bred success. In 2001, America produced a third of the world’s science and engineering articles in refereed journals, and in three of the past four years its academics received two-thirds of the Nobel prizes for science and economics. No wonder America’s great universities lure the world’s cleverest students and the finest academics, many of whom stay to enrich their new country.

Now these great factories of talent, ideas and technologies are threatened from without and within.

Taken together with the two previous postings, explain why I continue to worry about the state of American education. I was privileged to go through the University of California system when it was flush with support from the people of California, and I now understand it is in serious financial trouble. California will regret that lapse for generations. Lets hope the United States does not follow California's lead.