"Why would anyone go to college?" We posed this question on a billboard in Times Square on New Year's Eve. As you might imagine, we received a wide range of responses. A few said a college degree was merely a step toward professions that require graduate degrees, such as medical or law school. One mother did not see the value of college in preparing her teenage daughter to own her own business. A young man said he did not need to attend college to learn a trade that pays very well. These are sobering and insightful perspectives.

Not long ago, attaining a college degree was among the most universally esteemed aspirations in this country. Not anymore. Dismayed Americans are rapidly losing faith in higher education generally and in academic institutions specifically. This erosion in confidence is most evident among college-aged Americans. A recent Gallup survey found that just 39 percent of Gen Z (defined as ages 12-26) think college is "very important."

This dim view of post-secondary education should come as no surprise, and as Peggy Noonan recently pointed out, the worst reputational harm has often been self-inflicted. Recent headlines about incidents at college campuses have little to do with what once made our institutions of higher education the envy of the world.

As these troubling events have made clear, many institutions of higher learning have lost sight of their higher purpose. We know all too well from social media posts and........

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