As I pointed out in a recent Quick Take, people are already wondering if the Coronavirus crsis will burst the higher education bubble. Tucker Carlson addressed this issue in a monologue on his show this week which was right to the point.
In Tucker’s estimation, we have already crossed into new territory because the country now sees how much of the learning experience can be done differently and at lower cost.
Here is part of Carlson’s monologue, via FOX News:
Coronavirus crisis has exposed the higher education establishment charadeThe long-term effects of the moment we’re in are hard to know exactly. Restaurants and hotels have a long road back — that’s clear. But what about higher education?The nation’s entire college population is at home right now, at exactly the same moment the economy seems to be heading south because of the coronavirus. So what effect will that have?Well, the first thing to know is that whatever happens next, it will not affect Harvard, Yale, Stanford and a handful of schools like those. These places are richer than some countries. They’ll be fine no matter what happens, perhaps unfortunately. Big state schools are likely to weather the crisis, too. They have legislators behind them.But for everyone else on campus, this is a life-changing moment. Consider the confluence of factors right now. First, endowments are likely to shrink as the broader economy struggles. Donations will drop, too, for the same reason. There will almost certainly be a big reduction in students from China, a group whose main appeal has always been their ability to pay for tuition. Take that money off the ledger.Meanwhile, and most critically, an entire nation has just been shown that it’s possible to deliver higher education in an entirely different way. You don’t have to drive to campus, buy textbooks, pay for room and board in order to get an education. You can do the whole thing online.
A few moments later, Carlson drops the hammer:
Unless they change radically, a lot of these places are likely to go under in the coming years. There is not enough federal bailout money in the Treasury to save every pointless university in a bad recession. They will be gone for good, closed, repurposed, we can hope, into much-needed efficiency apartments with loads of appealing green space.
Watch the whole thing below:
As Carlson pointed out, schools like Harvard will be fine. They have an endowment that’s worth tens of billions of dollars. Which is why it’s rather surprising that the school is reportedly not going to pay certain people on their workforce during this crisis.
From the story at the Action Network:
Harvard, Pay All Your WorkersAs Harvard shuts down operations to protect the public’s health, it must take steps to ensure that all university employees — including subcontracted and temporary employees — can support and care for themselves and their families during this global pandemic. Currently, many workers at Harvard face an immediate loss of pay and will be unable to make ends meet in the midst of this crisis.
There is not a single person who works for Harvard who should be forced to go without during this crisis.
Featured image via YouTube.
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