A lesson from American universities — build trust, or fail

Amidst growing scepticism in the US regarding the value of higher education and declining enrolment rates, comes a report this week that lays a large part of the blame squarely on American colleges and universities. The findings published by the Yale University committee are unsparing: High tuition fees, murky admissions processes, uneven academic standards and anxiety related to free speech on the campus are reasons for the shift. Yale itself is among the institutions indicted by the report, which notes that issues like a “subjective and hard to explain” undergraduate admissions system have led to what university president, Maurie McInnis, described as an “erosion of public trust”. The committee was formed last April during a particularly tumultuous time for US universities. President Donald Trump had ordered a pause in federal funding to several institutes, linking it to investigations into alleged antisemitism on campuses or refusal to fall in line with  his administration’s attempts to dismantle DEI programmes. Immigration rules for international students were tightened and investigations into several universities were launched, allegedly for violating civil rights through racial preferences in admissions. The disenchantment is also driven to a large extent by perception: Most American schools are far removed from elite institutions like Yale, Harvard and Columbia, but the latter’s skyrocketing tuition and opaque acceptance criteria have contributed heavily to the idea of inaccessible higher education. In a subdued job market, many American families are also weighing the costs of attending college against the possibility that they may see little return on their investment. Restoring trust calls for deep reform. The report offers several recommendations, including greater budget transparency and a renewed commitment to free expression on campus. For India, there are lessons from the American experience — not least of which is that public trust once lost is not easy to regain.