DIY U. by Anna Kamenetz
Must-listen radio: Brian Lehrer’s WNYC interview of Anya Kamenetz about her new book: DIY U.: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education. Kamenetz writes about tuition rising at twice the rate of inflation, productivity in higher education (which she says is a “dirty word”), and the fact that parents and students know little about the quality of education they are getting because colleges do not provide data on student outcomes. But, she says, there’s reason for optimism: it’s more possible than ever before for people to craft their own educations, via new types of institutions that give credit for previous learning, online course materials, lectures from great professors available digitally and more. Kamenetz is a provocative writer whose previous book, Generation Debt, exposed the inner workings of the student loan industry.
— Richard Lee Colvin
