Chuck Todd sits down with Washington Monthly editor-in-chief Paul Glastris to unpack how America’s college ranking system went off the rails—and how it’s warping higher education itself. Glastris argues that U.S. News & World Report rewards wealth, not value, pushing schools to chase prestige over affordability and teaching quality. He highlights Berea College as a model for what higher ed could be: a well-endowed school that actually invests in its students rather than its brand.
The two also explore how higher ed’s obsession with research grants and graduate programs has left undergrads behind, and why community and regional universities—where most Americans actually study—deserve more attention and funding. From the decline of community colleges to the disappearance of local journalism, Glastris and Todd make the case for a “New Deal for Higher Education” that values mobility, access, and public service over profit and rankings.
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Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Paul Glastris joins the Chuck ToddCast
01:00 Best colleges for the buck?
03:15 US News ranks colleges in a horrific way
04:30 Schools prioritize wealth when doing admissions
07:30 Upward mobility matters more when ranking colleges
09:15 Schools freak out when they lose ranking status
10:45 Berea College is best bang for the buck school in America
12:45 Berea has a massive endowment, but it’s used for education
15:30 Schools focus on post-grad programs rather than undergrad
17:00 Research institutions should be put in their own category
17:30 Trump administration is going after schools with research grants
19:00 We’ve never seen an administration target college research
20:15 It costs a ton of money to send kids to college now
21:30 Do colleges prioritize hiring researchers or teachers?
24:15 We overproduce academic talent in America
26:15 Smaller schools face massive financial challenges
28:30 Many schools border on predatory
30:00 We need a “new deal” for higher education
32:30 Most people get their BA’s at local & regional universities
34:00 America didn’t get to making 2 years of college free
35:15 The state of the community college system
36:45 Florida never built a good state system, has no prestige schools
37:45 Florida standardized passing courses counting at every school
39:45 There’s a wide disparity of outcomes between community colleges
40:15 Community colleges offer community building activities
42:45 College rankings are an important example of service journalism
44:45 Local journalism was the foundational piece of the profession
46:00 The economic underpinnings of local journalism have been wiped out
48:30 Government and philanthropy can underwrite local journalism
50:30 National opinion journalism undermined local journalism
52:00 Small towns can’t afford good journalism
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