A lesson from American universities — build trust, or fail
Amidst growing scepticism in the US regarding the value of higher education and declining enrolment rates, comes a report this week that lays a large part of the blame squarely on American colleges and universities. The findings published by the Yale University committee are unsparing: High tuition fees, murky admissions processes, uneven academic standards and anxiety related to free speech on the campus are reasons for the shift. Yale itself is among the institutions indicted by the report, which notes that issues like a “subjective and hard to explain” undergraduate admissions system have led to what university president, Maurie McInnis, described as an “erosion of public trust”.
The committee was formed last April during a particularly tumultuous time for US universities. PresidentDonald Trumphad ordered a pause in federal funding to several institutes, linking it to investigations into alleged antisemitism on campuses or refusal to fall in line with his administration’s attempts to dismantle DEI programmes. Immigration rules for international students were tightened and investigations into several universities were launched, allegedly for violating civil rights through racial preferences in admissions. The disenchantment is also driven to a large extent by perception: Most American schools are far removed from elite institutions like Yale, Harvard and Columbia, but the latter’s skyrocketing tuition and opaque acceptance criteria have contributed heavily to the idea of inaccessible higher education. In a subdued job market, many American families are also weighing the costs of attending college against the possibility that they may see little return on their investment.
Restoring trust calls for deep reform. The report offers several recommendations, including greaterbudgettransparency and a renewed commitment to free expression on campus. For India, there are lessons from the American experience — not least of which is that public trust once lost is not easy to regain.
- 1The US university investigations into racial preferences in admissions mirror legal debates in India surrounding reservation policies under Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Similarly, campus free speech concerns in the US are analogous to the reasonable restrictions placed on Article 19(1)(a) in India, a recurring theme in legal reasoning passages concerning public order or institutional rules.
- 2President Trumph's directive to pause federal funding for universities exemplifies executive influence over educational policy and institutional autonomy. In India, this relates to the role of bodies like the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry of Education in regulating higher education, raising questions about the balance between government oversight and the academic freedom of central and state universities.
- 3The tightening of US immigration rules for international students directly impacts educational diplomacy and the global flow of talent, affecting thousands of Indian aspirants. This policy shift can be seen as a non-tariff barrier in the services trade, potentially influencing bilateral relations and prompting countries like India to strengthen their own higher education hubs under initiatives like the 'Study in India' programme.
- 4The American experience of skyrocketing tuition and questionable returns on investment highlights the socio-economic challenges in higher education, creating barriers to social mobility. This parallels discussions in India regarding the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which aims to balance quality, affordability, and equity to prevent education from becoming a privilege accessible only to the elite and to improve graduate employability.