The Great American University
October 9, 2012
G.D.O'Bradovich III
observations and thoughts
American doctoral granting universities are among the top, if not the pinnacle, in the world. Lists of top world universities are subjective and not without some bias. Americans are regularly awarded Nobel Prizes in the "hard" sciences. (Literature, no so much.) Nobel Prizes are more select and more subjective as there are hundreds of viable candidates, and yet there can only one or two winners in a category in a given year.
How do American secondary schools remain world leaders when our primary schools have been in decline since the 1950’s? Stated another way-How can mediocre elementary schools and inferior high schools teach students that become, after college, noted researchers, business leaders, and Nobel Prize winners?
Supposedly students either attend school to receive an education or students go to school to get instructions. Students going to high school receive instructions and one third of them do not graduate. Students that attend the college receive an education, although many do not receive a degree.
The functions of primary and secondary schools are similar, yet the results are dramatically different. The only difference between primary and secondary education is the presence of teacher’s unions.
We will explore why the most liberal faculty has not been unionized.
We must ask- Is there something inherent in the unions that contributes to below standard achievement from the students throughout their education from kindergarten through 12th grade?
The loyalty, for a lack of a better word, of teachers is to their unions to negotiate pay and benefits on their behalf. At the collegiate level, the wages and benefits of professors are determined by school revenue and, for public universities, allocations from the state. In adverse economic times, wages and benefits may be reduced to balance various budgets. The only benefits granted to professors are tenure and sabbaticals.
Yet, college educators have not sought to be represented by a union. We can speculate that educators, as a whole, believe that they can represent themselves better as individuals than with a collective mindset that is inherent with union representation.
Professors, in trying to attain tenure, must publish and be referenced by their peers. Therefore, they are competing against not only colleagues at their particular school, but against thousands of people in order to be published. At the primary school level, we do not witness this behavior, as being in a union is as good, if not better, than having tenure. High school teachers do not compete to be published or to stand out among their peers. They seem to be content to maintain the status quo that is offered by union affiliation. As the poet says, one is safer in the middle course.
We now understand why professors, in a union environment, would not be outstanding educators or researchers- their accomplishments would never see the light of day, as these would reflect negatively upon their less able peers. Every professor, even the most liberal, wants to be recognized by their peers and society for their contributions. This is evident because they, liberal professors included, continue to research, lecture and publish. But, these educators who continually preach equality and socialism, realize that if these concepts were applied to their arena, they could not stand out for their achievements and receive their due accolades.
Fortunately for America, our secondary education remains non union and continues to be a leader in the world.
This link is to world university rankings of the top 200 schools. I have sorted by country. Interestingly many of our American world class universities were started by individuals and not the state. This is true for the sixty ninth ranked school, Purdue University.
How do American secondary schools remain world leaders when our primary schools have been in decline since the 1950’s? Stated another way-How can mediocre elementary schools and inferior high schools teach students that become, after college, noted researchers, business leaders, and Nobel Prize winners?
Supposedly students either attend school to receive an education or students go to school to get instructions. Students going to high school receive instructions and one third of them do not graduate. Students that attend the college receive an education, although many do not receive a degree.
The functions of primary and secondary schools are similar, yet the results are dramatically different. The only difference between primary and secondary education is the presence of teacher’s unions.
We will explore why the most liberal faculty has not been unionized.
We must ask- Is there something inherent in the unions that contributes to below standard achievement from the students throughout their education from kindergarten through 12th grade?
The loyalty, for a lack of a better word, of teachers is to their unions to negotiate pay and benefits on their behalf. At the collegiate level, the wages and benefits of professors are determined by school revenue and, for public universities, allocations from the state. In adverse economic times, wages and benefits may be reduced to balance various budgets. The only benefits granted to professors are tenure and sabbaticals.
Yet, college educators have not sought to be represented by a union. We can speculate that educators, as a whole, believe that they can represent themselves better as individuals than with a collective mindset that is inherent with union representation.
Professors, in trying to attain tenure, must publish and be referenced by their peers. Therefore, they are competing against not only colleagues at their particular school, but against thousands of people in order to be published. At the primary school level, we do not witness this behavior, as being in a union is as good, if not better, than having tenure. High school teachers do not compete to be published or to stand out among their peers. They seem to be content to maintain the status quo that is offered by union affiliation. As the poet says, one is safer in the middle course.
We now understand why professors, in a union environment, would not be outstanding educators or researchers- their accomplishments would never see the light of day, as these would reflect negatively upon their less able peers. Every professor, even the most liberal, wants to be recognized by their peers and society for their contributions. This is evident because they, liberal professors included, continue to research, lecture and publish. But, these educators who continually preach equality and socialism, realize that if these concepts were applied to their arena, they could not stand out for their achievements and receive their due accolades.
Fortunately for America, our secondary education remains non union and continues to be a leader in the world.
This link is to world university rankings of the top 200 schools. I have sorted by country. Interestingly many of our American world class universities were started by individuals and not the state. This is true for the sixty ninth ranked school, Purdue University.
the top 200 ranked schools
Big 10 Conference in Bold
Pacific 12 Conference in Blue
Atlantic Coast Conference in Red
Big 12 Conference in Italics
Southeastern Conference in Green
1California Institute of Technology United States
2Stanford University United States
2University of Oxford United Kingdom
4Harvard University United States
5Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
6Princeton University United States
7University of Cambridge United Kingdom
8Imperial College London United Kingdom
9 University of California, Berkeley United States
10University of Chicago United States
11Yale University United States
12ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich Switzerland
13University of California, Los Angeles United States
14Columbia University United States
15University of Pennsylvania United States
16Johns Hopkins University United States
17University College London United Kingdom
18Cornell University United States
19Northwestern University United States
20University of Michigan United States
21University of Toronto Canada
22Carnegie Mellon University United States
23Duke University United States
24University of Washington United States
25Georgia Institute of Technology United States
25University of Texas at Austin United States
27University of Tokyo Japan
28University of Melbourne Australia
29National University of Singapore Singapore
30University of British Columbia Canada
31University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
32University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
33University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
34McGill University Canada
35University of California, Santa Barbara United States
35University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
37Australian National University Australia
38University of California, San Diego United States
39London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
40École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
41New York University United States
42Karolinska InstituteSweden
42University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
44University of California, Davis United States
44Washington University in St Louis United States
46Peking University China
47University of Minnesota United States
48LMU Munich Germany
49University of Manchester United Kingdom
50Pohang University of Science and Technology South Korea
51Brown University United States
52Tsinghua University China
53Ohio State University United States
54Boston University United States
54Kyoto University Japan
56University of Southern California United States
57King’s College London United Kingdom
58KU Leuven Belgium
59Seoul National University South Korea
59École Normale Supérieure France
61Pennsylvania State University United States
62University of Sydney Australia
62École Polytechnique France
64Leiden University Netherlands
65Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong
65University of Queensland Australia
67Utrecht University Netherlands
68Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) South Korea
69Purdue University United States
70University of Göttingen Germany
70Wageningen University & Research Netherlands
72Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands
72University of Massachusetts United States
74University of Bristol United Kingdom
75Rice University United States
76University of Pittsburgh United States
77Delft University of Technology Netherlands
78Heidelberg University Germany
79Emory University United States
80Durham University United Kingdom
81Pierre and Marie Curie University France
82Lund University Sweden
83University of Amsterdam Netherlands
84University of Montreal Canada
85University of New South Wales Australia
86Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
87Tufts University United States
88McMaster University Canada
89University of Groningen Netherlands
89University of Zurich Switzerland
91University of Colorado Boulder United States
92Paris-Sud University France
93Ghent University Belgium
94Michigan State University United States
94University of Notre Dame United States
96University of California, Irvine United States
97University of Maryland, College Park United States
98University of Arizona United States
99Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
99Monash University Australia
99Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey United States
102University of RochesterUnited States
103University of YorkUnited Kingdom
104Case Western Reserve UniversityUnited States
105Technical University of Munich Germany
106Uppsala UniversitySweden
106Vanderbilt University United States
108University of St Andrews United Kingdom
109University of Helsinki Finland
110Trinity College Dublin Ireland
110University of Sheffield United Kingdom
110University of Sussex United Kingdom
113University of Cape Town South Africa
114Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands
115Maastricht University Netherlands
116Aarhus University Denmark
117Stockholm University Sweden
118University of Virginia United States
119Royal Holloway, University of London United Kingdom
120University of Nottingham United Kingdom
121University of Alberta Canada
122University of California, Santa Cruz United States
122University of Florida United States
124Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
124Dartmouth College United States
124University of Warwick United Kingdom
127Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
128Free University of Berlin Germany
128Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
130University of Copenhagen Denmark
130University of Lausanne Switzerland
130University of Southampton United Kingdom
133University of Geneva Switzerland
134 Indiana University United States
134National Taiwan UniversityTaiwan
134 University of Utah United States
137Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel
137Tohoku University Japan
139University of Glasgow United Kingdom
140KTH Royal Institute of Technology Sweden
140Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
142University of Basel Switzerland
142University of Leeds United Kingdom
144University of Freiburg Germany
145Lancaster University United Kingdom
145Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
147Osaka University Japan
148 Arizona State University United States
149Technical University of Denmark Denmark
150 Boston College United States
151Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany
151University of Bern Switzerland
153University of Exeter United Kingdom
154RWTH Aachen University Germany
154University of California, Riverside United States
156 Texas A&M University United States
156Yeshiva University United States
158Tel Aviv University Israel
158University of Birmingham United Kingdom
158University of São Paulo Brazil
161University of Auckland New Zealand
162Stony Brook University United States
162University of Vienna Austria
164Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
165University of Delaware United States
166Paris Diderot University – Paris 7 France
167University of Texas at Dallas United States
168George Washington University United States
169 University of Iowa United States
170École Normale Supérieure de Lyon France
171University of Bonn Germany
171University of Liverpool United Kingdom
171University of Ottawa Canada
174Georgetown University United States
174Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute United States
176University of Aberdeen United Kingdom
176University of Adelaide Australia
176University of East Anglia United Kingdom
176University of Reading United Kingdom
180Joseph Fourier University France
180Newcastle University United Kingdom
182City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
183Yonsei University South Korea
184Colorado School of Mines United States
184University of Illinois at Chicago United States
184William & Mary United States
187University College Dublin Ireland
187University of Twente Netherlands
189 Medical University of South Carolina United States
190University of Western Australia Australia
190 Wake Forest University United States
192University of Antwerp Belgium
193 Iowa State University United States
193Technion Israel Institute of Technology Israel
193 University of Miami United States
196University of Leicester United Kingdom
196University of Victoria Canada
198University at Buffalo United States
199Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
200Birkbeck, University of London United Kingdom
102University of RochesterUnited States
103University of YorkUnited Kingdom
104Case Western Reserve UniversityUnited States
105Technical University of Munich Germany
106Uppsala UniversitySweden
106Vanderbilt University United States
108University of St Andrews United Kingdom
109University of Helsinki Finland
110Trinity College Dublin Ireland
110University of Sheffield United Kingdom
110University of Sussex United Kingdom
113University of Cape Town South Africa
114Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands
115Maastricht University Netherlands
116Aarhus University Denmark
117Stockholm University Sweden
118University of Virginia United States
119Royal Holloway, University of London United Kingdom
120University of Nottingham United Kingdom
121University of Alberta Canada
122University of California, Santa Cruz United States
122University of Florida United States
124Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
124Dartmouth College United States
124University of Warwick United Kingdom
127Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
128Free University of Berlin Germany
128Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
130University of Copenhagen Denmark
130University of Lausanne Switzerland
130University of Southampton United Kingdom
133University of Geneva Switzerland
134 Indiana University United States
134National Taiwan UniversityTaiwan
134 University of Utah United States
137Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel
137Tohoku University Japan
139University of Glasgow United Kingdom
140KTH Royal Institute of Technology Sweden
140Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
142University of Basel Switzerland
142University of Leeds United Kingdom
144University of Freiburg Germany
145Lancaster University United Kingdom
145Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
147Osaka University Japan
148 Arizona State University United States
149Technical University of Denmark Denmark
150 Boston College United States
151Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany
151University of Bern Switzerland
153University of Exeter United Kingdom
154RWTH Aachen University Germany
154University of California, Riverside United States
156 Texas A&M University United States
156Yeshiva University United States
158Tel Aviv University Israel
158University of Birmingham United Kingdom
158University of São Paulo Brazil
161University of Auckland New Zealand
162Stony Brook University United States
162University of Vienna Austria
164Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
165University of Delaware United States
166Paris Diderot University – Paris 7 France
167University of Texas at Dallas United States
168George Washington University United States
169 University of Iowa United States
170École Normale Supérieure de Lyon France
171University of Bonn Germany
171University of Liverpool United Kingdom
171University of Ottawa Canada
174Georgetown University United States
174Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute United States
176University of Aberdeen United Kingdom
176University of Adelaide Australia
176University of East Anglia United Kingdom
176University of Reading United Kingdom
180Joseph Fourier University France
180Newcastle University United Kingdom
182City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
183Yonsei University South Korea
184Colorado School of Mines United States
184University of Illinois at Chicago United States
184William & Mary United States
187University College Dublin Ireland
187University of Twente Netherlands
189 Medical University of South Carolina United States
190University of Western Australia Australia
190 Wake Forest University United States
192University of Antwerp Belgium
193 Iowa State University United States
193Technion Israel Institute of Technology Israel
193 University of Miami United States
196University of Leicester United Kingdom
196University of Victoria Canada
198University at Buffalo United States
199Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
200Birkbeck, University of London United Kingdom