There is No Need to Reform Universities

How about letting universities function like any other voluntary institution--without public subsidization. Let them be held to ordinary standards of fraud and to the same standards of disclosure to which other private institutions are held. If that is done, there will be no need to reform universities. They will reflect the purposes of those who wish to learn in them and of those who wish to work in them. They will sharply diminish in number. Firms' current practice of dumping training costs on the public through invalidated education requirements will change. More efficient alternatives to university education, such as skills certifications, will evolve. Over time the percentage of the population that seeks university education will decline to perhaps five percent. The great talents of America's university faculty will then be put to productive use in fields for which there is legitimate, voluntary demand.