ABSTRACT
College administrators were aware that what is taught in primary and secondary schools and how effectively it is taught affects the intellectual atmosphere of colleges. This chapter presents the evidence showing how little time and effort most American high school students actually spend on what parents expect them to be doing: learning and studying. It considers little noticed educational consequence of moving toward universal access to college: how easy access to college undermines primary and secondary education. Some children learn enough through attending primary and secondary schools to be qualified to do well in college-level courses. Only occasionally is the assumption questioned that universal access to higher education is better both for the individual and for society. A possibility worth considering is that, even apart from the financial problems, broad entitlements to higher education undermine academic excellence, but this possibility is rarely considered, especially by politicians. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
