How Local News Collapse Damages Civic Life

Chuck Todd sits down with Washington Monthly editor-in-chief Paul Glastris to unpack how America’s college ranking system went off the rails—and how it’s warping higher education itself. Glastris argues that U.S. News & World Report rewards wealth, not value, pushing schools to chase prestige over affordability and teaching quality. He highlights Berea College as a model for what higher ed could be: a well-endowed school that actually invests in its students rather than its brand.

The two also explore how higher ed’s obsession with research grants and graduate programs has left undergrads behind, and why community and regional universities—where most Americans actually study—deserve more attention and funding. From the decline of community colleges to the disappearance of local journalism, Glastris and Todd make the case for a “New Deal for Higher Education” that values mobility, access, and public service over profit and rankings.

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Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Paul Glastris joins the Chuck ToddCast

01:00 Best colleges for the buck?

03:15 US News ranks colleges in a horrific way

04:30 Schools prioritize wealth when doing admissions

07:30 Upward mobility matters more when ranking colleges

09:15 Schools freak out when they lose ranking status

10:45 Berea College is best bang for the buck school in America

12:45 Berea has a massive endowment, but it’s used for education

15:30 Schools focus on post-grad programs rather than undergrad

17:00 Research institutions should be put in their own category

17:30 Trump administration is going after schools with research grants

19:00 We’ve never seen an administration target college research

20:15 It costs a ton of money to send kids to college now

21:30 Do colleges prioritize hiring researchers or teachers?

24:15 We overproduce academic talent in America

26:15 Smaller schools face massive financial challenges

28:30 Many schools border on predatory

30:00 We need a “new deal” for higher education

32:30 Most people get their BA’s at local & regional universities

34:00 America didn’t get to making 2 years of college free

35:15 The state of the community college system

36:45 Florida never built a good state system, has no prestige schools

37:45 Florida standardized passing courses counting at every school

39:45 There’s a wide disparity of outcomes between community colleges

40:15 Community colleges offer community building activities

42:45 College rankings are an important example of service journalism

44:45 Local journalism was the foundational piece of the profession

46:00 The economic underpinnings of local journalism have been wiped out

48:30 Government and philanthropy can underwrite local journalism

50:30 National opinion journalism undermined local journalism

52:00 Small towns can’t afford good journalism

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