America is realigning its global engagement with its trade and defence ‘pivot’ to Asia. However, America is losing one of its great strategic advantages to Asia – its long-standing lead in higher education. If this were an arms race, we would be raising alarm bells and spending heavily in maintain power advantages. Instead, we are unilaterally disarming.
A new Times ranking of world universities shows residual advantages for American and some European universities – but it also shows that institutions across Asia are rising significantly. While America and Europe are cutting education budgets via austerity, Asia is open for business. Yes, America and Europe have most of the top-ten ranked universities. However, only a small handful of students attend these schools. The vast majority of people seeking the skills to compete in the global economy go to public universities – which are being gutted by cuts and becoming accessible mainly to students who can already afford it.
As Phil Baty observes, America has 76 of the top-200 ranked world universities. He writes: ‘Of the US’s 76 institutions, 19 have risen and six have held their positions, but 51 have fallen, with precipitous decline further down the table.’
Only a handful of Asian institutions are among the 200. However, this will change, and fast. China is investing $250 billion per year in higher education over five years, with a focus on alternative energy, energy efficiency, environmental protection, biotechnology, advanced information technologies, high-end equipment manufacturing and new energy vehicles.
The New York Times reports China plans to invest up to $1.6 trillion to expand these industries to represent 8% of economic output by 2015. For English speakers, Australia is a good return on student investment. Australia has a national plan for investment in research and development in its higher-education system, and its geographic location helps students expand their learning around Asia. Australia, Baty notes, is China’s fifth most important collaborator on research and development. Today, China lags behind the United States in terms of government support for research and development. However, the Battelle Memorial Institute notes that China is on track to surpass the United States by 2023.
America is rightly pivoting strategically to Asia – but if it does not simultaneously re-invest in the internal sources of power, it will lose a critical competitive advantage. Austerity is necessary for reducing debt. However, if it continues without simultaneously investing in the human capital that makes nations strong then we will cede remaining advantages. America’s pre-university education system is deeply unequal because of how schools are funded, leaving behind massive amounts of potential talent. Its university system is great, but –increasingly – only for those who can afford it. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have lost touch with the great pro-business tradition that understands that sometimes one has to invest in order to make future gains. If America is losing out to Asia, we will only have ourselves to blame.
Sean Kay is Robson Professor of Politics and Government at Ohio Wesleyan University where he also Directs the Arneson Institute of Practical Politics, and is a Mershon Associate at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at the Ohio State University. His article, ‘America’s Sputnik Moments’, appears in the April–May issue of Survival.