Should We Inflate Higher Ed? NAS Debates Kevin Carey

Check out the debate that took place this month between Education Sector's Kevin Carey and NAS on the need for expanding higher education. First, Carey proposed a "Race to the Top" equivalent for higher education in an article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed (subscription required). NAS agreed with some of his points and disagreed with others in "To Infinity and Beyond! Kevin Carey's Race to Over-the-Top." Carey replied in "Debating RTT4HE," where he asserted that NAS "just wants to hoard college credentials for the privileged few." We responded at length in "Expanding Enrollments, Declining Standards: American Higher Ed Prepares to Take the Plunge." Do we really want to do to higher education what we have to K-12 education? We might achieve the hollow boast of the most college-credentialed citizenry in the world who also happen to be among the worst-educated.