Free-Market Socialism
Robert Croog Chevy Chase, MDFlag
I'm with you most of the way, except for your wanting to link colleges even more closely with employers. As one lately come to academia, after spending a life in a corporate legal department, I find much of today's college curriculum is already too closely aligned with business. I'm old-fashioned enough to believe the best reasons for attending college are learning how (not what) to think---how to amass and weigh evidence, how to hone and evaluate arguments, and how to refine the humanistic and social values that will fit one's employment into a complete life. What I don't think we need more of is the use of colleges as training centers for employable skills. We already have too much of that; it's devaluing the significance of a bachelor's degree and producing workers with lots of useable skills, but little of the knowledge needed to apply them toward a useful life.