American University Enlightenment
September 2004
Today, the strength of the US university is the first of the world. The US higher education is not only a welfare provided by the state to citizens, but also excellent motivation to create social wealth. The study of the American Carnegie Group shows that 50% of the US economic strength is obtained from its education system. With world-class higher education, the United States can have a large number of independent intellectual property rights, affect far-reaching outstanding scholars and powerful knowledge economy, can become a scientific and technological power.
However, American higher education is not perfect. There are many measures, policies, systems, and ideas in the past few hundred years, but in the past 20 years, there is also a shortcoming situation in the past 20 years.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the important contribution of the university's development of the United States to explore the fundamental elements of the success of the US university, and the drawbacks showing in the past two decades. "Laozi" said: Known people wisdom, self-knowledge. I hope this paper provides a reference to people who have become lost in the US institutions can provide a reference to people in progress in China's education system.
Five reasons for the success of American universities
As the world's recognized scientific and technological strong country, the United States has more than 50 academic papers, Nobel Prize winners and patents. The reason why the United States is strong, it is that it has a large number of world-class academics. They attract the best students around the world, and they have completed the completion of the school. These students have been left in the United States and become the United States to support their technology power. Status of the column.
85% of the world's best universities are the university in the United States (according to Shanghai Jiaotong University, there are 17 American universities in the top 20). The United States uses the world's best university to attract the most potent students from all over the world to the United States, and use its strong enterprises to stay in these talents in the United States. In Microsoft,
IBM
Apple and other American high-tech companies are full of talents from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and other countries. These foreign elites provide a solid foundation for the United States's technology and industrial development.
There are five reasons for the success of American universities: (1) Bible policy and official; (2) a flexible and free teaching method; (3) strict teachers admission, promotion, management system; (4) in progress in advance, stable thinking; (5) The miraculous rise of private universities.
(1) English policy and official
In 1862, the United States is working on the west, a visionary Senator Justin Morrill promotes the "Gift Bill" in order to provide the opportunity to be educated in the backward area, and provide a free land for the establishment of a new one by the government. Gift University. This bill allows each state to get a 30,000-acre land, the "Act" also allows universities to sell these land, and sell them as school funds.
With the growing social wealth of the United States, the state's funding investment in the university has gradually increased. Seeing the success of Germany, Morrill and other senators have promoted the new bill, additional research funding and new research, to promote the research and teaching of "research universities".
Despite these implied policies and abundant funds, the US research and universities in the early 20th century are still behind Europe. At this time, the United States needs an opportunity. History has not let the Americans wait too long. During World War II, under the leadership of Director Vannevar Bush of the National Defense Research Committee, six thousand scientists have secretly carry out a large number of research work (including far-reaching research on the original bullets, radar, decryption algorithms, missiles and penicillin). At the end of World War I, Vannevar Bush came to the Director of the National Science Research and Development Office. He submitted a report called Roosevelt's "Science-Endless Front" ("Science, The Endless Frontier", explains the mechanism of a complete set of countries he designed, using science and technology to create wealth, and its main contents are as follows : V V significantly improved research funds. Scientific research is a strong country, and human progress is necessary, and the government is responsible for supporting this area. From 1940 to 1990, the US research funding rose 4000 times. In 2000, the US federal government had more than $ 38 billion in scientific research.
v Put the national scientific research to the university. One of the main programs of Vannevar Bush is "Federalism By Contract" (Federalism ", is essentially the federal government does not set research institutions, but through the way of signing research contracts, transfers scientific research tasks to universities or private companies. He has signed more than 200 research contracts with 41 universities / research institutions and 22 companies. In addition to a few national defense confidential programs, most of the research funds have undergone the US National Science Foundation, the National Health Foundation, the Ministry of National Defense, the High-tech organization, Navy Research Office, etc. Laboratory to operate.
v guides the national defense research industrialization. Many of the technologies invented in World War II have huge commercial value, and Vannevar Bush is made by universities (Jet propulsion lab, like Lincoln Labs, MIT, Jet propulsion lab), and then passed the national defense contracting These technologies industrialize these technologies in business (like Boeing, Lockeed, BBN). This series of measures have spawned world-class universities and companies to consolidate the United States as the world's first science and technology.
From the three points in the US authorities, the Bush report has been set up for the US modern scientific research policy.
The "Science-Endless Front" commits an open scientific research and the centralized research concept of the Soviet Union. In terms of defense science and technology, the Soviet Union has a star, not inferior to the United States. But the centralized research and social isolation of the Soviet Union, the more advanced weapons, the longer the society. Finally, the entire country is falling into an economic panic, and the status potentials of loss of science and technology are inevitably. Open scientific research in the United States is responsible for innovation by the university. It is responsible for industrialization, and each inventions can give full play to its potential, and it also brought extremely huge driving force for universities and industries.
Bush These wise policies have made universities in the early days of funds (implementation of the "contractual federalism", the Massachusetts Institute of Science and Technology have received more than 100 million US dollars). Since then, not only the US university is later surpassed more than Europe, the US high-tech (aerospace, medicine, computer, operating system, network ...) is also rapid industrialization, created an incomparable wealth. On the other hand, after the university professor and graduate are successful, they re-enter the university and form a good cycle of endless life.
Here, we can't forget the great progress of the great progress: English officials. Vannevar Bush is the best model. He is not only a government official, but also a unique strategic man and an excellent scientist. He has developed successful "Differential Analyzer" in 1931 and is the nasal ancestor of the electronic computer. In 1945, he predicted the future computer, database, digital camera, speech recognition, Internet, etc., so he said he called the father of the computer. Vannevar Bush Zeng Zeng President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a famous Raytheon company, is also one of the founders of the US patent system. If Vannevar Bush does not work into the bus, he is likely to get the Nobel Prize. However, as a strategic government official, his contribution to the American society far exceeds most Nobel Prize winners. His example shows that our education, scientific research and economic progress requires not only a large amount of funding and open policy, but also officials with master wisdom. (2) Way of teaching flexibly
The American teaching method is very flexible, and the style is very different from Europe. Teachers and students exchange ideas and learn knowledge in straightforward atmospheres. Whether in primary schools, secondary schools or universities, American teachers generally do not have a lot of knowledge to instill students, but use experiments, cases, discussions, interactive exchanges and other rich and vivid ways to improve students' learning enthusiasm.
In the United States, teachers encourage students to chase interests rather than chasing "hot", and the open school rules also allow students to turn according to their interest. I just wanted to engage in law or political work when I entered my college. After more than a year, I found that I was not interested in the law, and the academic performance is only medium, but I love my computer. I am crazy every day, soon, I will attach the teacher and classmates. Finally, the big two days, I decided to give up the previous year's columbian legal system has been cultivated, transferred to the University of Columbia to borrow a nameless computer system. If it is not an open school rule, I will not have the achievements in the computer field today, it is likely to be a lawyer who is neither a unhappy and unhappy in a small town in the United States.
In the United States, teachers also pay great attention to cultivating students' ability to think independently, and encourage students to boldly put their own ideas and suggestions. When I read, I have proposed a different technical solution with the idea of mentor. At that time, my mentor said: "I don't agree with you, but I support you." His encouragement eventually got successfully along his way. This kind of abortion, encouraging innovative education concepts, but also reflects the advancement of American education ideas.
(3) Strict teachers admit, promotion, management system
Most of the American colleges and universities have first-class teachers, which can be described as gathered. In the US society, the university professor is the profession of intellectuals, and has a high social status and an essential treatment. The advantageous treatment guarantees the quality of teachers, and excellent teachers bring students' respect for the teacher. The respect for the students will enhance the social status of the teacher. As a result, the treatment continues to increase, thus forming a benign circulation of university teachers.
In the MIT or the first-class academic government such as Stanford, a professor is often available at the same time. When a young teacher, defeated thousands of competitors, after entering Stanford University as assistant professors, he only got a piece of paper for 7 years. After 7 years, he has a 50% chance to get "lifelong position", which is allowed to stay in the school for life. But he also has 50% of the "lifelong position", and must give up the goals of professors, even unemployment. Such a harsh condition is still available in a position, and we can imagine how profitable work in the United States.
There are two purposes of "lifelong position" system. First, ensure professor qualified. Get a professor of "lifelong position" is extremely difficult. Applicants need to do a number of independent scientific research, publishing articles at a high level of journals, successfully guiding doctoral students, and then through a strict teacher assessment system, the objective assessment of peers, carefully measure the actual contribution to scientific research, plus students Comments, etc., then you can prove the qualifications of its "verse professor". Such a high threshold guarantees the quality of the professor and guarantees the social status of the professor. Second, safeguard the freedom of thought. Once "lifelong position", the school can't dismiss advice because of their mindset or attack schools, and the government will dismiss advice, which is equivalent to providing "lifelong" guarantee. In addition, American colleges and universities emphasize their focus on education and basic research, and do not encourage college businesses, and they do not encourage professors to take many horizontal projects to avoid affecting teaching quality. The university has a rich remuneration, and you can also take a weekly "advisory" work every week, and you can choose the time business to start business. Therefore, the American professor does not have worries, and it is also possible to speak public and private, and put into research and teaching in school hours.
(4) thinking of stable thinking in progress
Prior to the 19th century, Europe's university mainly trained priests and politicians. In the former modern society, people's minds are stable, and fundamentally is known, if there is still an unknown part, it will definitely be derived from the known knowledge, because the order is a consistent and omnipresent of. In a sense, in a sense, it is observed in a sense of history, and people have never imagined this stable world order will have subversive dangers. In this historical context, the purpose of education is to teach fixed knowledge. The most important quality of the university is stable.
Since the 19th century, the world has undergone profound changes. The industrial revolution, the information revolution, the medical revolution brings people hope, nuclear weapons, terrorism, environmental crises, and energy crisis bring people fear, the two world wars move human beings to their own wisdom and rational ... With ethics, Morality, beliefs, philosophy, science profound changes, human beings have begun to realize that the future will no longer be repeated in the past. This trend is a profound impact on education. Since then, education points are no longer repeatedly stiff knowledge or truth, but innovation. The most important quality of the university is no longer a stable stability, but the pursuit of risk is pursued.
Just in the ancient world became a young transition gate, the United States's university seized the opportunity. Under the "progress" banner, under the leadership of the educator of the chest, more than the university "stability" (Germany's university is an exception). The United States is a multicultural big furnace, and the United States is willing to imitate in order to improve innovation. A very good example is the inspiration in the 19th century in Berlin University, this research university has been successful. The United States quickly integrates German model into the native education, plus policy support, very fast from blue, more than Germany Achievements of research universities. Another example is that MIT has recently taken 2000 courses (including textbooks, speeches, notes, exercises, answers, etc.), with a total of 100 million US dollars. This not only represents MIT hug network technology and distance education, but also shows it is not afraid of risk, and is incapable confidence in the status of the world engineering leader.
On the relationship between progress and stability, US universities provide examples worthy. And listened to the CLARK KERR of the University of California Clark Kerr: "Progress and stability are important, but I am convinced that progress is more important than stability, because only progress can bring true, long-term stability. Therefore, when both have conflicts, we should Abandoning stability and pursuit progress. "In the past 100 years, the United States is" in progress, it is stable ", and finally, she finally surpassed the European old university, which made the world. This philosophy is the secret of successful success.
(5) The miraculous rise of private universities. US universities can be divided into five categories:
1. Private universities - is built on the basis of donations with ideal success, owned by private, managed by the board of directors. Such universities are not based on profitability, shareholders must not obtain profits, all benefits are used for school development and improve research and teaching level.
2. Public universities - such as statement, completely funded by the government, to meet the basic needs of citizens to receive higher education, reflect the fairness, justice and convenience of education resource utilization.
3. Church university - from the religious purpose, the church has, supplementing social basic education conditions and serving religious purposes.
4. Public Community University - Provides a two-year degree education in low tuition fees, aiming at students who cannot enter first-class universities. There are also students to save money, first read the two-year community university to go to public or private universities.
5. Private Vocational University - Basic purpose with profitability, equivalent to enterprise or company, such university general charge, low school level, similar Chinese existing private universities.
A prominent phenomenon is that about 85% of the best universities are the first category above, namely private universities. This can also be seen from the rankings of US News and World Report:
Overall ranking (US News and World Report)
Undergraduate
Business school
engineering
1
Harvard
Harvard
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2
Princeton
Stanford
Stanford
3
Yale
Binzhou University
Burkeley
4
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yinos
5
California
Northwest University
George
6
Duke
Colombia
Michigan
Seduce
Stanford
Duke
California
8
Binzhou University
Burkeley
Pu
9
Dartmouth
Chicago
Texas
10
Washington University
Dartmouth
Carnegielon
High-tech discipline leading school
Biological Engineering
computer science
computer engineering
1
Stanford
Carnegielon
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2
Harvard
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Carnegielon
3
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford
Stanford
(Note: The black is a private school, gray is a public school.)
These private universities are often "research universities", but they not only provide quality education, but also do first-class research. Although public universities have government funding, the gap between private universities and public universities is, the more far. Private universities are more than just successful schools, but also become the core of the industry: the rise of Silicon Valley is attributed to the high-tech industry around Stanford University.
Why can the United States break the situation in the past public university? What makes private universities become the core power of American higher education? The success of the United States research private university has the following four important conditions:
v Have ideal charities: Each private university in the above table is created with patriotic charity (such as Carnegie, Mellon, Stanford, Rockefeller, Harvard). In addition to donating multiple universities, Rockefeller also provided research funds. When the government had not seen the potential of microbiology, he made a thousand gold, supporting the California Institute of Technology and other schools to create this important discipline, which made the United States to grab the development of the discipline.
v Shuangwei Private Donation Fund (Endowment): After years of hard work, first-class private universities have trained a large number of successful alumni. These alumni are generous to the school, helping the school accumulate the rich enemy's wealth, which is the so-called fund (Endowment). Taking Harvard University as an example, its foundation is up to $ 100 billion, and has a profit every year. With this money, schools provide full scholarships to excellent students, and the highest pay-up is the best professor, and the courses are put on online, establish a scientific park ... v-QSI 大略 大略 大 大 和 和 大学 大学 大学 大学 大学 大学Compensating, it is inextricably. The principal of the majesty is led by the school to achieve excellence with independent school guidelines and distinctive school. Every school has its personality, they are not the goods of Chen Chen, who are boring production line, and cannot be used from the first line of linear thinking from the first place to the last linear thinking. A very classic example is Daniel Gilman, as the first principal of Johns Hopkins, is ideal for research universities, and has created a miracle in the short term. In addition, there is also the principal and computer department of the majestic and the computer department to create Carnegie Mellon to schools with IT revolution; the principal and vice president of the California University of Technology, Milikan, Hale put this originally flat Throop Institute. Renovated into a small and squeezing department; Massachusetts Institute of Technology adjacent Harvard, so we decided to develop engineering, and finally cultivate the husband; the pride of Northwestern University is the world's first business school; Berkela has established the free open learning style of the world ... ... Every special school attracts people with distinctive people, they have to play in a suitable school environment, forming a situation in which people do their materials, and
v Flexible and efficient operation: Private universities are more flexible and effective than public universities in cost control, operational efficiency, attracting students and responding social needs. Private universities are not restricted by the US government policy, nor do you have to have an annual annual funds, because the funds of private schools come from the Foundation to operate as private companies. They can dig research masters with a greater high salary, providing research launch funds, they can create new disciplines, this flexible way of operation is the uniqueness of the market economy, so private universities can meet high quality teaching levels , Cultivate high-quality students. Moreover, more free environments can also attract talents. The success or failure of a university depends on whether it can attract outstanding talents, and the outstanding talent is a flexible and free environment.
Five drawbacks facing American universities
For Chinese education in reform, the United States is a good model. However, when we envy the success of the United States, we must also see the drawbacks of today's American universities.
Today's US university has the following five major draws: (1) "Lifelong" system caused professor unwanted progress; (2) The imbalance of tuition funds led to the "university marketing competition" and "profit university" is flooding; (3) the rich and poor The disparity, the school's right deflation; (4) The research professor has skyrocketed, excellent teacher's rice bowl is not guaranteed; (5) The monopoly pattern of first-class academic monopoly is growing.
(1) "Lifelong" system caused a professor to make progress
The "lifeline" system uses a higher threshold to select a professor to be a very correct approach, but "lifelong position" also produces side effects on American education: After the "lifelong position", some professors have no worries, no longer work hard. Some professors are above their position, in fact, half retiring, or starting outside. This is because the professor will no longer constrain after getting "lifelong", and the system cannot prompted their efforts to act as the obligations and responsibilities of schools and students. If in the enterprise, no position is high, do not do well, will still be saved, downgraded, and even dismissal. In contrast, the university should also refer to the way of management in order to establish convincing fair competition. (2) The imbalance of tuition funds has led to the flood of "university marketing competition" and "profit universities"
The University of Berclai David Kirp's "Shakespeare, Einstein, And The Bottom Line" criticized the US university's tuition fees arising from the reduction in government funds in recent years. In order to survive, many schools use marketing tools to sell themselves. The marketing itself is not a bad thing. In the case of tuition, funds, the problem is not evasive, and it is necessary to properly integrate the marketing tool. However, some universities take exaggeration, false marketing methods, and do not hesitate to raise rankings and improve the university brand through speculation and even falsification.
In addition, many universities ignore basic disciplines because basic disciplines can't get funding. Many universities ignore academic and management capabilities when employing principals and vice presidents, and mainly look at their marketing ability. This has become a major hidden danger of American education systems.
When the mainstream university encounters funds, a group of profitable universities take advantage of the price. These schools (such as Devry University, Phoenix University, Jones International University, etc.) are called "universities" names in the secondary level, and they have accumulated hundreds of thousands of students. Analysis of the roads of these schools, it is not difficult to see Ni: They can't get international certification, take State or Municipal certification, so you can get the government's subsidies; they can't get a praise of the media, just advertise on TV; Adding excellent students, reducing the threshold of enrollment; in order to improve the profits, at the lowest price, the least amount of class, the least professional teacher, through the network teaching ... These profit universities use the crisis of the mainstream universities. Pen is rich. The University of Devry has been launched in the New York stock market, with a market value of 1.8 billion US dollars, and the president has an annual income of $ 1.8 million. However, seeing college diploma depreciation, education is a businessman plundering taxpayer, especially a poor student's shake money, people can't help but ask: What is the axiom conscience? How is education?
(3) The department has a disparity of the rich and the poor, and the school is defeated by the school.
In order to improve the enthusiasm of various institutions, many US universities reduce the "commission" of the school, reduce the authority of the school, and put the power to the department. This caused the furniture of the cold garden, but the hot hospital is a situation in the market. For example, Berclai University began to do not open research in order to study funds. Southern California University implements the management system of "resource management decentralization", requiring various colleges and financial profits, leading to a curriculum, and the business quality of academic public facilities has declined. Virginia's business school is dissatisfied with the school "commission" too much, simply standing on the hill, trying to get from the alma mater. The wind and the university have made a few profit companies.
In addition, the department has independently leads to the principal of the principal. present day. We have been hard to see the Eliot principals like Harvard, Johns Hopkins's Gilman principal, the Harper principal of the University of Chicago, ideal and courageous educators. (4) The research professor has skyrocketed, and the excellent teacher is not guaranteed.
Another book entitled "The Uses of the University", the author is the Clark Kerr of the University of California University, analyzed the profound crisis of American university waste. As the university funds, the research funds have been rely on scientific research funds, and the colleges and colleges with teaching have become researched. At present, a university or departmental brand depends on whether it has a first-class research professor, which makes universities to dig research-based star professors with high prices. The Journal of New York University, in 5 years, the probatarry of philosophical star made it two systems jumped from the original name to the top three. However, the biggest problem with the professor of big-name stars is unwilling to teach. So, New York University has only hired a large number of "choson" to deal with teaching. The big-name star professor can be high to 200,000 US dollars a year, and the "chistler" is only 3,000 yuan, and it is not to be a school official employee. If the "Chured" is awarded next year, he will completely unemployment.
Many American school students believe that professors only care about research and don't care about students' learning. In the end, it is still a student, especially undergraduate.
(5) First-class academic monopoly pattern is getting rigid
The above four disadvantages, if there is a US or 100 years ago, it is most likely to be improved by a charity or educator to create or transform a university. But in today, this change opportunity has no longer existence, because the market of "first-class private universities" has been monopoly.
In addition to the brand, teachers, research, and research, this monopoly, this monopoly, is also an important town of Endowment. Harvard, Stanford and other universities have more than 10 billion US dollars. Only the interest of this fund has exceeded many years of funding for many years. Only interest, the school can hire the best teachers, subsidized, or expand. In fact, they don't even need to move this "old", these private universities can get the scientific research funds of astronomical figures with their brands and strength, the fund will only have a snowball, the greater the year .
Second-run schools are simply impossible to compete with these monopoly markets, nor will there be a charity dare to take money to compete with them (who is willing to invest tens of billions, and the bleak operation decades will only reach "quasi-first" The grade? What is the guest's mother-in-law is very loyal to his alma mater). Therefore, Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Stanford challenge Harvard history will not be repeated. The era of historic educated by the ideal educator and the charity family is far away. Now, the style and policy of the first-class university have been fixed. It is difficult to have any reforms without challenge.
Message China
China is becoming a strong country in the world, and the advantages and disadvantages of American universities have a significant basis for China. As far as China's development goals, China must have their own world-class academics - no matter how difficult this goal is, this is a must-have task.
In the face of this goal of this heavy way, some people boast the Haikou, claiming that 2020 should be achieved; some people are too hot, they are not realistic than superb. I personally think this is an extremely difficult, but it is absolutely practical to achieve great and practical goals. As a scientist and engineer, I am convinced that any great and practical goals should not rely on the car, but should seek development on the test of the lessons learned under the test of the actual problems.
