Crow pens op-ed: 'The miseducation of American dreamers'

In a Nov. 1 op-ed piece that appeared in the Washington Post – as part of an "On Leadership" roundtable on higher education and the 21st-century leadership challenge for university presidents – ASU President Michael Crow discusses the significant role higher education institutions play in charting new paths for innovation and economic growth, especially during recession periods.

"America once again finds itself at a crossroads," Crow writes. "But what has happened to our nation is not the result of a global banking conspiracy or the collapse of the housing bubble. Instead, we have been so successful at selective innovation that many of our traditional pathways to economic success are now closed. A good job in public safety or at the plant down the road no longer provides the economic return necessary to fully participate in an economy designed around innovation and technological advancement.

Crow continues: "The only path forward for the United States is to continue on this historical trajectory of perpetual innovation, a path forged by education. Following the Second World War, our nation emerged to lead the world in educational attainment, and from there led the way to scientific discovery, new business start-ups, new industrial sectors like biotech, pioneering military preparedness, and astonishing feats of human creativity and technological genius, like landing humans on the moon or creating an Internet economy."

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