Abstract

It is generally agreed that American higher education is in a bad state. There is no general agreement, however, about why this is so. The inadequate preparation of students, the poor quality of teaching, the chronic shortage of funds, the deterioration of standards, the tenure system, the politicization of academic life are some among the various explanations that have been proposed. Universities and colleges are complex institutions, they are connected to the larger society of which they are parts in many obvious and unobvious ways, so it is most unlikely that there would be a single explanation of their wretched condition. There is one explanation, however, that must be part of whatever the complete story turns out to be: corruption. American higher education is as poor as it is partly because academics routinely violate the fundamental value which they are obligated by their institutional affiliation to uphold.