For Republicans, destroying universities and colleges is a feature, not a bug.
I don’t like the method, execution, or reasons, but I feel torn as this type of move will force these institutions to restructure for servicing the youth of the USA instead of primarily pricing out the nation in favor of the super wealthy elite from abroad. From that angle, this eventually creates slightly more upward mobility access for social classes that have long been de facto bared from these institutions due to financial competitiveness of a foreign elite. Maybe that perspective is naïve. I comment it to engage with other reasoning people, not dogma or the stupidity of tribalism.
Might it not just result in them increasing domestic students’ fees to make up the difference?
I don’t think so. As far as I know the primary constraint is the number of seats. That is an artificial constraint from the top to maintain exclusivity and brand value. In the trickle down effects of such a constraint those managing the school are incentivised to get the most money for each of those seats as this is largely what is funding their pay and research, like the kinds of lab equipment available. We are in the age when lots of equipment exists beyond the scope of what any school can afford, such as EUV for edge node silicon fab tech. How the school prepares elite students to lead in a field where the school cannot provide direct and relevant training is a bit dicey and is the basis for a lot of financial pressure. Overall, removing this elite class of funding will inevitably reduce the relevance of the institution because it will need to do more with less while filling the same number of seats via supply and demand adjusted prices.
This really the most I could hope for in the next 4 years. Accidentally doing some unintended good amidst all the bad.
I remember when Mao shutting down the schools and strangling the universities of China was looked down upon as a Westerner.
No joke, this is going to be devastating for the international wood science community.
