The Martin Center’s president, Jenna A. Robinson, wrote an essay arguing that America’s public universities have drifted far from their original purpose of serving their states and citizens. Using the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an example, Robinson contrasts its founding mission—to prepare the “rising generation” for honorable civic duty—with its current global ambitions to “solve the world’s greatest problems.” She notes that this shift toward prestige and international recognition has come at the expense of taxpayers, in-state students, and local communities.
Robinson criticizes how rankings, research dollars, and international recruitment now drive university priorities, often misaligning them with workforce and civic needs. She calls for states to cap out-of-state enrollment, refocus curricula on regional and American history and civics, and hold universities accountable to state goals rather than global prestige metrics. “Public universities can’t be all things to all people,” Robinson concludes. “They must serve the citizens and students who fund them.”
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