Have you been following Doonesbury for the past few weeks? It’s been all about the progressive destruction of the American university, as the old model is replaced by the for-profit university, a hideous scheme in which state and federal support for higher education gets siphoned off to support lousy schools that grind through massive numbers of students, offering low tuition, flexible hours, and a fast-track to a degree…and with abysmal retention rates, low success, marginally qualified ‘faculty’, and an education that is worth less than you paid for it. These are the colleges you see advertised on cheesy commercials on television, in which some guy proudly testifies about getting his fancy diploma working only a few hours a week at night over two years, and never having to step away from his computer to do it.
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Always Question Authority 
This ‘corporatization of the university’ is a big and growing problem. According to the New York Times, for-profits now enroll 12% of all students in higher ed but absorb up to 25% of federal student aid. Some of these operations apparently receive as much as 90% of their money through federal channels yet often charge higher tuitions, deliver a suspect education, and often leave students deeply in debt. Students will not be the only ones betrayed this system, the nation will suffer as well.