Universities, celebrated as sanctuaries of free thought and intellectual rigour, have for centuries been seen as the best way to educate and conduct research. But increasingly it is questioned if this is still true. A recent study found two-thirds of academics feel their freedom to teach and study challenging ideas is being reduced. In 2022 alone, over 1,000 instances of content warnings or text removals were documented across UK universities. While some academics now criticise PhDs as a scam to get "fees and cheap labour" from students and reports suggest most academic papers have an average of just 10 readers. More than half of people now say going to university is not worth it. Graduate student debt in the US averages over $71,000 and access to similar information is available online often for free.
Should we call time on the age of the university, and find new, innovative ways to educate people? Should we leave research and innovation to the business sector and free-market forces? Or are universities vital to our education and culture and can a radical overhaul return them to their original status?