Trump’s Atrocious War on Higher Ed Demands an Aggressive Response

The
benefits of higher education don’t redound just to students; they also buoy
local economies across America. For instance, the number-two private employer
in North Carolina is Duke. The University of Iowa is also the number-two employer
in Iowa. In Kentucky, Nebraska, and other states, university health systems are
the top employer. Through operations, employee payroll, capital improvements,
student, alumni, and visitor spending, the University of Pennsylvania
contributes over $37 billion to
the southeastern Pennsylvania economy, including $547 million in tax revenue to
Philadelphia. And then there are the 300
spin-off companies based on Penn research that were started in the last 10
years. Every major university has a similar story and statistics. Indeed, in
every region of the United States, the share of college graduates directly correlates with
higher-wage jobs. 

Finally, colleges and universities are good
for the nation. They have been instrumental in scientific advancement. Since
2000 and the complete mapping of the human genome, there have been five major
biomedical advances: CRISPR, genetic therapy, CAR-T cures for cancer, mRNA
vaccines, and now GLP-1 drugs. Of these advances, all were achieved in U.S.
colleges and universities, with GLP-1 shared between the United States and
Denmark. Robust academic research is the major reason why the U.S. has
six
of the top 10 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the world.

But all of that is being put at risk by
sudden cuts in federal research funding and the threat of more to come. Laboratory
work and clinical research of new treatments are on hold, and schools are
reducing the number of graduate students they are admitting. For instance, the
University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute, which treats patients from many
Western states, is uncertain about its future should cuts in National Institutes of Health funding—now
on hold, thanks to lawsuits—move forward.