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" Critics of American colleges typically attribute the failings of undergraduate education to a tendency on the part of professors to neglect their teaching to concentrate on research. In fact, the evidence does not support this thesis, except perhaps in major research universities. "

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" Most high governmental officials who speak of education policy seem to conceive of education in this light - as a way to ensure economic competitiveness and continued economic growth. I strongly disagree with this approach. "

Derek Bok

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" Economists who have studied the relationship between education and economic growth confirm what common sense suggests: The number of college degrees is not nearly as important as how well students develop cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving ability. "

" Ever since economists revealed how much universities contribute to economic growth, politicians have paid close attention to higher education. "

" I think any self-respecting educational institution ought to judge its policies by its best estimate of what their long-term consequences for their students and for the society will be. "

" There are no tests similar to SATs to tell us how much undergraduates know. State legislators, who appropriate billions of dollars each year to higher education, are naturally interested in finding out what they are getting for their money. "

" The most obvious purpose of college education is to help students acquire information and knowledge by acquainting them with facts, theories, generalizations, principles, and the like. This purpose scarcely requires justification. "

" Education, and I regret to say this as an educator, but there's no indication that education has a direct effect on happiness. "

" Again and again, universities have put a low priority on the very programs and initiatives that are needed most to increase productivity and competitiveness, improve the quality of government, and overcome the problems of illiteracy, miseducation, and unemployment. "

" Early admission programs tend to advantage the advantaged. "

" The oldest of the arts and the youngest of the professions. "

" There's a great deal of difference between thinking reflectively about moral issues and achieving higher standards of ethical behavior. "

" Universities are in a position where they can think very creatively. "

" I don't regard the fact that there's a disparity in test scores nearly as importantly as I do the need for diversity, because I know from long experience that test scores, though useful, are a very limited measure of things that matter in choosing students. "

" I won't say there aren't any Harvard graduates who have never asserted a superior attitude. But they have done so to our great embarrassment and in no way represent the Harvard I know. "

" Fewer than half of all university professors publish as much as one article per year. "

" Freshly minted Ph.Ds typically teach the way their favorite professors taught. "

" If we are prepared to invest the necessary time and effort, affirmative action can contribute to Harvard's quality and not detract from it. "

" The University has a moral obligation to provide equal opportunities to women, minority persons and all other groups who work or seek to work at Harvard. "

" The first country to adopt happiness as an official goal of public policy is the tiny little country of Bhutan in Asia near China and India. "

" Greater inequality in Europe has made people less happy. "

" Despite the hours spent debating different models of general education, the choices faculties make rarely lead to any significant difference in the cognitive development of undergraduates. "

" Teaching methods are often inadequate for the goals faculties are trying to achieve. Important courses such as expository writing and foreign languages are frequently taught by untrained graduate students and underpaid adjunct teachers. "

" Doctoral training is devoted almost entirely to learning to do research, even though most Ph.Ds who enter academic life spend far more time teaching than they do conducting experiments or writing books. "

" Efforts to develop critical thinking falter in practice because too many professors still lecture to passive audiences instead of challenging students to apply what they have learned to new questions. "

" There is far too much law for those who can afford it and far too little for those who cannot. "

" I think one thing that does cause unhappiness is protracted anxiety and worry. "

" I suspect that no community will become humane and caring by restricting what its members can say. "

" I don't think the alternative to Yale is jail by any means. On the other hand, there is a mass of research that does show that there are real advantages to your subsequent career in going to selective institutions. "

" Good teaching is creating really interesting generalizations out of war stories. "

" Colleges do not merely offer preparation for the future; they occupy four years of a student's life, and an institution should do what it can to make these years absorbing and enjoyable. "