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The man that God outdid Himself in blessing me with as my earthly father was a vice president and president in institutions of "Higher Education." My father is no longer with us on this spinning ball of mud, but before he left us for much better digs, he made no bones about his disgust for the current and worsening state of "Higher Education." The main focus for most of "Higher Education" is no longer about education at all ... it's about the accumulation of prestige, power, influence, and ... MONEY!
In my humble opinion, the reason for the existence of college/university endowments is for them to simply EXIST ... to be SEEN and to be BALLYHOOED and GUSHED OVER! They are NOT to be used ... as in, the funds actually being spent ... no, no, no. They are a seed to be kept in the ground to grow, grow, grow an ever-increasing hoard that can be promoted endlessly. Yes, they will spend some of the money, but only after they can rest assured that inflowing funds will more than offset any expenditures. When funds are spent, it is primarily for esoteric research that will not benefit any of the student body, directly, but will add bragging rights and prestige to the institution - and its administrators - so they can go out and successfully beg for even more money.
"Higher Education," as practiced by most colleges and universities, is nothing but a cynical fraud, in my opinion. They crow about everything they are doing for students ... providing an "education" financed with "cheap money" that will translate into "lucrative careers" ... but, they egregiously overcharge for degrees in studies, the vast majority of which, are complete and utter crap that are totally worthless in the world outside of campus.
I am firmly convinced that many universities and their administrators should be prosecuted under the RICO statutes.
B.