Why are 17 of the top 20 Universities in the US? -- A University of Wisconsin Undergraduate's Assessment. (April 5, 2006)

    Jeff Carnes is a fourth-year student majoring in linguistics at the University of Wisconsin, and in an opinion piece in the universities student newspaper, The Badger Herald, "American universities excel sans government control", he points out that "American high school students... have been and still are lagging behind their Asian and European peers in math and science," and that "[t]he American system of education is riddled with problems: many lower-class families are finding it more and more difficult to afford education; there is a disparity in high school graduation rates among different races; and we in fact do poorly in math and science."

But he then continues that in 2005 the Institute of Higher Education of Jiao Tong University in Shanghai in ranking the top 500 universities worldwide, determined that 17 out of the top 20 in the world were American. The University of Wisconsin was ranked 16^th.

Carnes writes:

The Economist’s “The World in 2006” gives various reasons for American universities’ shining performance compared to our Asian and European counterparts. One of the most important reasons is the lack of federal-government involvement in higher education. In countries such as Germany and France, academics are considered civil servants. Many federal governments interfere with the independence of the university by mandating which students they must accept and whom they must hire. Some even influence course curricula, which brings the level of education down and stifles both students and faculty.

 

The independence of the American system of higher education from the federal government is its strength. Considering federal funds and state revenue contributed to only 48 percent of UW’s budget in 2003-04, UW has a great deal of latitude from the state and the federal governments compared to the University of Helsinki or Moscow State University.

He also opines, "In the United States, we encourage creativity and independent thought... As Thomas L. Friedman wrote in The New York Times on March 25, 2006, these two emerging economic powerhouses [China and India] are extremely concerned about the lack of creativity and innovation their graduates show after college. The education system in both countries suffers from students not questioning their education with the question, “Why?” which is stifling creativity in fields ranging from engineering to business-marketing strategy."

And then Carnes concludes, "In terms of government involvement in higher education in the United States, there should be even less involvement from the Capitol. This independence from the government that UW and many other top universities enjoy allows both students and faculty to continue to explore the academic world unhampered."

Meanwhile, there is no indication that Australia's Federal Government is interested in giving more independence to the nation's public higher education or research sectors -- anything but.