Economists who have studied the relationship between education and economic growth confirm what common sense suggests: The number of college degrees is not nearly as important as how well students develop cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving ability. — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
Although professors regard improving critical thinking as the most important goal of college, tests reveal that seniors who began their studies with average critical thinking skills have progressed only from the 50th percentile of entering freshmen to about the 69th… — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
Doctoral training is devoted almost entirely to learning to do research, even though most Ph.Ds who enter academic life spend far more time teaching… — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
I think it's sort of an outrage that companies should have to hire firms to teach the college graduates they employ how to write. — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
As countries embrace mass higher education, the cost of maintaining universities increases dramatically relative to an elite system. — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
“surveys show that over 90 percent of professors believe that their teaching is above average,” — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
For some students, especially in the sciences, the knowledge gained in college may be directly relevant to graduate study. For almost all students, a… — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
There is far too much law for those who can afford it and far too little for those who cannot. — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
An educated man must have a "curiosity in exploring the unfamiliar and unexpected, an open-mindedness in entertaining opposing points of view, tolerance for the… — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
Once you start worrying about a national football championship, then you begin to worry about getting the quality of athlete, and the numbers needed,… — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
I think any self-respecting educational institution ought to judge its policies by its best estimate of what their long-term consequences for their students and… — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
I think the minority students that we admit to Harvard are every bit as meritorious as the white students that we admit. — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
There's a great deal of difference between thinking reflectively about moral issues and achieving higher standards of ethical behavior. — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
Critics of American colleges typically attribute the failings of undergraduate education to a tendency on the part of professors to neglect their teaching to… — Derek Bok Copy Share Image
