s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com€¦ · Web viewThe “status quo” refers to current policies, essentially what Affirmative teams need to change. Policy debaters must have a solid

STATUS QUO OF HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY

Season 18—

Debating the 2017-2018 NCFCA Policy Resolution

The “status quo” refers to current policies, essentially what Affirmative teams need to change. Policy debaters must have a solid understanding of the current state of affairs before debating the year’s topic. The purpose of this article is to give competitors the underlying knowledge of the status quo as it relates to the following resolution:

“Resolved: The United States should significantly reform its policies regarding higher education.”

Table of ContentsSTATUS QUO OF HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY.....................................................................................2

THE ONGOING PROBLEMS OF RACE & SEGREGATION........................................................................3HIGHER EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC CHOICES..................................................................................4PAYING FOR IT.....................................................................................................................................5TITLE IX..............................................................................................................................................6THE BUSINESS OF COLLEGE SPORTS...................................................................................................7MILITARY ACADEMIES........................................................................................................................8MISCELLANEOUS..................................................................................................................................8

Worksheet: Status Quo of US Transportation Policy..................................................................................................9Answers......................................................................................................................................................................11

Content collected and written by Vance Trefethen. Chris Jeub wrote the worksheets at the end of the essay.

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Status Quo of Higher Education Policy

NCFCA’s 2017-2018 Policy Resolution: “Resolved: The United States should significantly reform its policies

regarding higher education.”

In this chapter, we examine some of the better known and widely debated issues that are currently being discussed in the literature on higher education in the United States. Our goal is not to persuade you to any point of view, but rather to summarize what some of the arguments are so that you have a better understanding of the positions you may find yourself debating this




year. This may also give you ideas for areas of research on Affirmative cases you could write or Negative briefs you will need to prepare.

By not naming which governmental agent or actor is topical, the resolution leaves the door open to a lot of interesting possibilities for Affirmative plans this year. There is one interesting topicality analysis you should be aware of: the little word “its.” The policies under consideration have to be policies of “the United States,” not of the colleges themselves. Rather than trying to fix problems within some individual university, Affirmatives should be looking at policies promoted by the states or the federal government that are causing bad things to happen in the schools, or causing the schools to do bad things.

For example, if you read an article saying that Big University has dangerous crosswalks and students are getting run over, don’t write a plan that says Big University changes its crosswalks. Research it and see if there’s a federal or state law mandating the configuration of crosswalks on college campuses. When you find it, do a plan to change that law so that colleges have safer crosswalks.

There is also no limitation in the resolution that the harms or the plan have to be visible on the campus itself. “Regarding” higher education seems broad enough to include any government policy that intends to be directed at higher education, even if the results or the administration are not on the campus. Student loans, for example, are a financial transaction between individuals, a bank, and the federal government, but they certainly are “regarding” higher education, since the purpose of the loans is to pay for college.

The Ongoing Problems of Race & SegregationIf you thought the problems of racial equality and segregation on college campuses were solved in the 1960s, think again. Since the 1978 Bakke decision, colleges and student applicants have been in court numerous times trying to figure out where to draw the line between acceptable “affirmative action” (to recruit more minority students) and “reverse discrimination” (where better qualified applicants are denied to make room for someone admitted solely because of their skin color). A 2016 Supreme Court decision Fisher v. University of Texas and its admission policies allows race to be a factor in admissions decisions, although with substantial restrictions. Many schools believe that “diversity” of the student body in and of itself is a valuable enough asset to allow race to be considered when admitting students with lower qualifications on paper. Others worry that not giving an extra boost to minority students will perpetuate previous generations of disadvantaged status. As an agent of government with the power to set policies




regarding higher education, the Supreme Court should not be overlooked as a possible actor for Affirmative plans to use in establishing new policies.

Race relations on campus are another area of current public policy concern. We noted earlier that federal court decisions prohibit racial discrimination and segregation on campus. One disturbing new trend is the re-segregation of campuses, this time at the request of minority students who wish to escape from the influence of the majority culture. The University of Connecticut recently announced a plan to open a blacks-only dorm for male students1 (as Martin Luther King Jr. rolls over in his grave). State laws and policies encouraging this type of segregation might be ripe for reform, either at the state level or through better enforcement of civil rights laws at the federal level.

Higher Education and Economic ChoicesWhile statistics do show that the average person with a college degree makes more money than the average person without one, that doesn’t necessarily prove the degree is economically worthwhile for everyone. The skyrocketing cost of college isn’t the only price you pay when pursuing a degree. You also pay the opportunity cost of the work and earnings you could have had during the four (or more) years you were in school and not in the workforce. Imagine a college degree costs $25,000 per year for four years. Imagine further you could have been making even a modest wage of $30,000 per year if you had not been in school during those four years. Your total cost of a four-year degree in that case is $220,000.2 How much will you have to make and how many years will you have to work to earn back that difference over the rest of your life? And if your degree is in art history or Hittite literature, will you really get a job that pays more than average so that you really receive that earning differential?

“Some degrees are more valuable than others. Salaries are going up much faster for students who attend the top universities and those who major in business, health care and tech. ‘Graduates studying lower paying majors such as arts, education and psychology face the highest risk of a negative return,’ notes Goldman. ‘For them, college may not increasingly be worth it.’”3

1 http://www.nationalreview.com/article/439383/uconn-dorm-segregation-black-separatism-should-have-no-place-higher-education 2 Not counting interest you would pay on any of the $100K tuition if some of it was borrowed.3 Heather Long, CNN MONEY 9 Dec 2015 http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/09/news/economy/college-not-worth-it-goldman/index.html



http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/09/news/economy/college-not-worth-it-goldman/index.html

http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/09/news/economy/college-not-worth-it-goldman/index.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/439383/uconn-dorm-segregation-black-separatism-should-have-no-place-higher-education

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/439383/uconn-dorm-segregation-black-separatism-should-have-no-place-higher-education


Affirmative plans offering to “get more people into college” may not be all that beneficial if the economic rewards are only available to a limited few with specialized skills. Negatives should do some briefing on this issue and prepare it as a generic response to such Affirmative positions.

Paying for ItWe observed earlier that 43 million Americans owe a total of $1.3 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, of which over 90% is owned or guaranteed by the federal government.4 Many of them simply cannot pay it back in any reasonable timeframe, and the default rate is troublesome.

“Private loans, unlike a mortgage or car debt, cannot be cancelled as easily in bankruptcy. Worse, many private lenders require a co-signer. That means two people are in trouble if the loan is not paid. The number of parents who are caught in this nightmare, trying to retire with this over their head, is astounding.”5

Affirmatives will have many options for plans to solve the student debt crisis. Some form of amnesty or debt forgiveness could be a solution. Renegotiating the terms or interest rates to make repayment more affordable could be another option. Perhaps the rules about discharging student loans in bankruptcy should be relaxed.

“Existing federal-aid programs give colleges every incentive to enroll students and less reason to worry about whether they are successful. Students lack basic information on the costs and quality of different options, and lax federal lending standards make it easy to amass debt at bad colleges.”6

Others have looked at the root of the underlying problem: the high cost of college. There wouldn’t be so much student debt if education wasn’t so expensive. Solutions to that are also being offered by public policy experts. Pres. Obama, before he left office, proposed a plan whereby the federal government would pay three-fourths and the states would pay one-fourth of any student’s tuition at a public community college. Others have proposed that all public universities should be free, though finding the funds to cover this at taxpayer expense remains a challenge. The state of Georgia has a program that could be a model for others, whereby state lottery revenues pay for full tuition at public universities for all academically qualified high

4 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/3-charts-student-debt-crisis_us_56b0e9d0e4b0a1b96203d369 5 Josh Cohen, Vermont attorney. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2017/05/19/student-loans-bankruptcy/#1628f8b72ecf 6 https://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-the-best-way-to-make-college-more-affordable-1442368890



https://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-the-best-way-to-make-college-more-affordable-1442368890

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2017/05/19/student-loans-bankruptcy/#1628f8b72ecf

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2017/05/19/student-loans-bankruptcy/#1628f8b72ecf

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/3-charts-student-debt-crisis_us_56b0e9d0e4b0a1b96203d369


school graduates.7 Another possible model is the state of Tennessee, which now offers8 free community college to all state residents.

There may also be a bigger role for private sources of funding in the college loan market, whereby the government could get out of the business perhaps altogether. Tying student performance and success to the conditions of a loan would give private lenders an incentive to loan only in quantities and to individuals that would promise a return on the investment. Letting markets pick successful investments might be more likely to succeed than government largesse to all comers.

Title IXThis headline from the New York Times in 2011 speaks volumes: “Few Americans Familiar With Title IX, Though Most Approve of It.”9

While the goal of Title IX, bringing equality between male and female students, is worthy, in implementation there are many criticisms of the policy results. Sexual harassment, while certainly a valid concern, may be exaggerated and even imaginary in some cases, leading to tragic false accusations and ruined reputations. A fraternity at the Univ. of Virginia recently won a defamation lawsuit settlement of $1.65 million after Rolling Stone magazine published a story about the rape of a female student at the frat house. Further investigation found the entire story to be a hoax.10 Other investigations of campus sexual harassment under Title IX show shoddy evidence handling, the assumption that men are guilty until proven innocent, and male students being expelled without adequate opportunity to defend themselves. 11

That’s not to say that harassment and rape never occur, rather that the claims may be exaggerated and the methods for handling them could be reformed. In addition, there are lots of allegations of such occurring at US military academies, which, coincidentally, are completely exempt from Title IX.12 Reforming the sexual harassment adjudication requirements of Title IX is something Affirmative debaters could certainly propose with lots of research to support them.

7 http://www.gocollege.com/financial-aid/scholarships/states/georgia.html 8 https://www.thenation.com/article/its-time-end-tuition-public-universities-and-abolish-student-debt/ 9 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/26titleixpoll.html?action=click&contentCollection=Sports&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article 10 http://www.mediaite.com/online/rolling-stone-reportedly-settles-with-uva-fraternity-in-rape-hoax-case/ 11 https://reason.com/blog/2017/04/12/lawsuit-cornell-afflicted-by-anti-male-d 12 https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/t9-rel-exempt/index.html



https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/t9-rel-exempt/index.html

https://reason.com/blog/2017/04/12/lawsuit-cornell-afflicted-by-anti-male-d

http://www.mediaite.com/online/rolling-stone-reportedly-settles-with-uva-fraternity-in-rape-hoax-case/

http://www.mediaite.com/online/rolling-stone-reportedly-settles-with-uva-fraternity-in-rape-hoax-case/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/26titleixpoll.html?action=click&contentCollection=Sports&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/26titleixpoll.html?action=click&contentCollection=Sports&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

https://www.thenation.com/article/its-time-end-tuition-public-universities-and-abolish-student-debt/

http://www.gocollege.com/financial-aid/scholarships/states/georgia.html


Title IX also has debatable impacts on college sports. Some colleges, to meet the mandate of equality between men’s and women’s sports, solve the disparity by cutting the budget for men’s sports. For example, in 2011 the Univ. of Delaware eliminated their men’s track team out of fear that they would soon be out of compliance with Title IX.13 It’s doubtful the authors of Title IX intended this to be the outcome, and perhaps reforms could be made in the area of sports equity.

The Business of College Sports As noted earlier, college sports have been in need of major reform since at least 1929. It’s tough to do because the big athletic programs at the big schools bring in big money that those schools would be loath to part with. The federal government can’t fiat that corruption goes away or that schools focus more on academics. Somehow abolishing college sports would be grossly unpopular and would drain money that taxpayers would probably have to make up at some point. But there are specific laws that could be reformed that might help.

One proposal is to simply lift the pretense of “student athletes” who occasionally show up at class and are really in the minor leagues of the NFL or NBA: just pay them. Make them employees or subcontractors of the university and quit pretending that they are seriously students pursuing academic degrees who just happen to play ball on the side.14 Maybe they could attend classes on the side like other part time students who work and study at the same time.

Another option proposed by student athletes at Northwestern University, in order for them to reap their fair share of the benefits they brought to their school, was allowing them to join a labor union.15 Let’s admit that they are essentially employees and give them the labor rights they deserve. This idea was brought before the federal government’s National Labor Relations Board, but was rejected. As Affirmatives, you have power to reverse that decision if you desire.

What about coaching salaries? “In 2012, the highest-paid state employee in twenty-seven states was a football coach, and in thirteen it was a basketball coach.”16 The states could reform that any time they want to – and one wonders why they haven’t wanted to.

13 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/sports/02gender.html 14 https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2012/01/reforming-college-sports/ 15 https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-college-athletes-be-allowed-to-unionize-1442368889 16 http://www.thepostgame.com/commentary/201309/john-u-bacon-fourth-long-book-reforms-college-sports-jim-delany-big-ten



http://www.thepostgame.com/commentary/201309/john-u-bacon-fourth-long-book-reforms-college-sports-jim-delany-big-ten

http://www.thepostgame.com/commentary/201309/john-u-bacon-fourth-long-book-reforms-college-sports-jim-delany-big-ten

https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-college-athletes-be-allowed-to-unionize-1442368889

https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2012/01/reforming-college-sports/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/sports/02gender.html


Military AcademiesNumerous commentators have remarked on the epidemic of sexual harassment at the nation’s military academies. 17 Perhaps new policies could stem the tide. On the other hand, some question why the nation even needs the military academies any longer. Since most US military officers are trained outside of the academies, do they only exist out of tradition and not for any real strategic purpose?18

MiscellaneousWe’ve surely only touched the surface of the topics you will be encountering this year. A few other ideas briefly to consider:

The role of “for profit” universities. Do they rip off students and leave them with high bills and no skills?

Federal grants for research at universities. Are the grants too heavily regulated to be effective? Not regulated enough and full of waste or fraud?

“Free speech” on college campuses. Speakers are routinely chased off campus and sometimes threatened with violence. Shouldn’t campuses be places of open inquiry and debate? Doesn’t the First Amendment protect speech on state property at public universities?

Whatever you decide to write your case on, make sure it’s not just a wish or a dream but something that the published literature says can be solved by state or federal policies. Start with the literature and write your plan around a mandate advocated by someone with some degree of credibility. Make the expert’s recommendation your plan and then research the reasons for the plan as your harms or advantages. Your case will be stronger and more credible to the judges who will decide your fate.

17 https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/us-naval-and-military-academies-see-rise-in-sexual-assault/519912/ 18 http://www.salon.com/2015/01/05/lets_abolish_west_point_military_academies_serve_no_one_squander_millions_of_tax_dollars/



http://www.salon.com/2015/01/05/lets_abolish_west_point_military_academies_serve_no_one_squander_millions_of_tax_dollars/

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/05/lets_abolish_west_point_military_academies_serve_no_one_squander_millions_of_tax_dollars/

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/us-naval-and-military-academies-see-rise-in-sexual-assault/519912/

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/us-naval-and-military-academies-see-rise-in-sexual-assault/519912/


Worksheet: Status Quo of US Transportation Policy

Name: ____________________________________ Date: ________________________

Answer the following in the spaces provided.

1. What is the interesting topicality analysis with the word “its” in the resolution?

2. Is there a limitation in the resolution that the harms have to be on the college campus itself? How does the word “regarding” attributes that?

3. Did problems with racial segregation end in the 60s? What disturbing new trend is being advocated at some universities that go against the legal gains of the Martin Luther King Jr. era?

4. Will Affirmative plans that offer getting more people into college be an affective plan? How could Negatives brief a response to such plans?

5. What options to Affirmatives have to solve the student debt crisis?




6. What alternatives to paying for college exist other than tax payers footing the bill?

7. What is Title IX, and do most people agree with it? What about implementation of the law?

8. Why is it so difficult for the government to mandate that schools focus more on academics than school sports?

9. Do you think America needs military academies? Explain.

10. How should you go about writing your case idea or advocacy?




Answers

1. There is one interesting topicality analysis you should be aware of: the little word “its.” The policies under consideration have to be policies of “the United States,” not of the colleges themselves. Rather than trying to fix problems within some individual university, Affirmatives should be looking at policies promoted by the states or the federal government that are causing bad things to happen in the schools, or causing the schools to do bad things.

2. There is also no limitation in the resolution that the harms or the plan have to be visible on the campus itself. “Regarding” higher education seems broad enough to include any government policy that intends to be directed at higher education, even if the results or the administration are not on the campus.

3. No, segregation problems have not ended. One disturbing new trend is the re-segregation of campuses, this time at the request of minority students who wish to escape from the influence of the majority culture.

4. Affirmative plans offering to “get more people into college” may not be all that beneficial if the economic rewards are only available to a limited few with specialized skills. Negatives should do some briefing on this issue and prepare it as a generic response to such Affirmative positions.

5. Affirmatives will have many options for plans to solve the student debt crisis. Some form of amnesty or debt forgiveness could be a solution. Renegotiating the terms or interest rates to make repayment more affordable could be another option. Perhaps the rules about discharging student loans in bankruptcy should be relaxed.

6. There may also be a bigger role for private sources of funding in the college loan market, whereby the government could get out of the business perhaps altogether. Tying student performance and success to the conditions of a loan would give private lenders an incentive to loan only in quantities and to individuals that would promise a return on the investment. Letting markets pick successful investments might be more likely to succeed than government largesse to all comers.

7. While the goal of Title IX, bringing equality between male and female students, is worthy, in implementation there are many criticisms of the policy results.

8. It’s tough to do because the big athletic programs at the big schools bring in big money that those schools would be loath to part with. The federal government can’t fiat that corruption goes away or that schools focus more on academics. Somehow abolishing college sports would be grossly unpopular and would drain money that taxpayers would probably have to make up at some point.

9. Some question why the nation even needs the military academies any longer. Since most US military officers are trained outside of the academies, do they only exist out of tradition and not for any real strategic purpose?




10. Whatever you decide to write your case on, make sure it’s not just a wish or a dream but something that the published literature says can be solved by state or federal policies. Start with the literature and write your plan around a mandate advocated by someone with some degree of credibility. Make the expert’s recommendation your plan and then research the reasons for the plan as your harms or advantages.



s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com€¦ · Web viewThe “status quo” refers to current policies, essentially what Affirmative teams need to change. Policy debaters must have a solid

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