Celebrating Intellectual Engagement On College Campuses

"According to the National Center for Education Statistics, last year 20.5 million students attended U.S. colleges and universities. The numbers shouldn't be much different this year."

"Right now, as August rolls over into September, millions of families are sending their kids off to college, for the first time or for a return year. It's an emotional and exciting time."

"It's a time, too, to understand and appreciate what happens after move-in day concludes and the hard work of the academic year begins. That's especially important just now because in recent months evidence has emerged for a growing hostility to higher education in this country."

"According to this report at Inside Higher Ed last month, based on figures released by the Pew Research Center, 58 percent of Republicans have a negative impression of the impact colleges have on society. That's way up from 37 percent two years ago, and up even from the 45 percent last year. (This issue is definitively partisan: In the new report, 19 percent of Democrats view colleges negatively.)"