Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 3 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Zachary Bleemer, assistant professor of economics at Princeton University and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
  • D'Wayne Edwards, founder and President of Pensole Lewis College.
  • Catharine Hill, former president of Vassar College; trustee at Yale University; and managing director at Ithaka S+R.
  • Pano Kanelos, founding president of the University of Austin.
  • Amalia Miller, professor of economics at the University of Virginia.
  • Donald Ruff, president and C.E.O. of the Eagle Academy Foundation.
  • Morton Schapiro, professor of economics and former president of Northwestern University.
  • Ruth Simmons, former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M University.
  • Miguel Urquiola, professor of economics at Columbia University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "What Gay Men’s Stunning Success Might Teach Us About the Academic Gender Gap," by Joel Mittleman (The Washington Post, 2022).
  • "We Can't Wait for Universities to Fix Themselves. So We're Starting a New One," by Pano Kanelos (Common Sense, 2021).
  • "Academic Freedom in Crisis: Punishment, Political Discrimination, and Self-Censorship," by Eric Kaufmann (Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, 2021).
  • “A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost’,” by Douglas Belkin (The Wall Street Journal, 2021).
  • "Community Colleges and Upward Mobility," by Jack Mountjoy (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
  • "Elite Schools and Opting In: Effects of College Selectivity on Career and Family Outcomes," by Suqin Ge, Elliott Isaac, and Amalia Miller (NBER Working Paper, 2019).
  • "Leaving Boys Behind: Gender Disparities in High Academic Achievement," by Nicole M. Fortin, Philip Oreopoulos, and Shelley Phipps (NBER Working Paper, 2013).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • “'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'” by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

Stephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them trade stories about failure, and ponder the lessons that success could never teach.

• SOURCES:
  • David Duchovny, actor, director, writer, and musician.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Martin Seligman and the Rise of Positive Psychology," by Peter Gibbon (Humanities, 2020).
  • "Rick Reilly: ‘Donald Trump Will Cheat You on the Golf Course and Then Buy You Lunch,'" by Donald McRae (The Guardian, 2019).
  • "How The X-Files Invented Modern Television," by Emily St. James (Vox, 2018).
  • "Happiness & the Gorilla," by Scott Galloway (No Mercy/No Malice, 2018).

• EXTRAS:
  • Fail Better with David Duchovny, podcast by Lemonada Media (2024).
  • "How to Succeed at Failing," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "Annie Duke Thinks You Should Quit," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).
  • "The Upside of Quitting," by Freakonomics Radio (2011).

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Peter Blair, professor of education at Harvard University and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
  • Zachary Bleemer, assistant professor of economics at Princeton University and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
  • Amalia Miller, professor of economics at the University of Virginia.
  • Morton Schapiro, professor of economics and former president of Northwestern University.
  • Miguel Urquiola, professor of economics at Columbia University.

• RESOURCES:
  • “Elite Schools and Opting In: Effects of College Selectivity on Career and Family Outcomes,” by Suqin Ge, Elliott Isaac, and Amalia Miller (Journal of Labor Economics, 2022).
  • “Why Don’t Elite Colleges Expand Supply?” by Peter Q. Blair & Kent Smetters (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
  • “Lori Loughlin Pleads Guilty via Zoom in College Admissions Case,” by Kate Taylor (The New York Times, 2020).
  • Markets, Minds, and Money: Why America Leads the World in University Research, by Miguel Urquiola (2020).
  • “To Cheat and Lie in L.A.: How the College-Admissions Scandal Ensnared the Richest Families in Southern California,” by Evgenia Peretz (Vanity Fair, 2019).
  • The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money, by Bryan Caplan (2018).
  • “The World Might Be Better Off Without College for Everyone,” by Bryan Caplan (The Atlantic, 2018).
  • “Are Tenure Track Professors Better Teachers?” by David N. Figlio, Morton O. Schapiro, and Kevin B. Soter (NBER Working Paper, 2013).
  • “Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables,” by Stacy Berg Dale and Alan Krueger (NBER Working Paper, 1999).
  • "Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action," by the Kalven Committee (1967).

• EXTRAS:
  • "What Exactly Is College For? (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).