Podcast Summary: Call Me Back with Dan Senor

Episode: Bonus – Re-evaluating American Higher-Ed
Guests: Raihan Salaam, Kevin Walzerd (Manhattan Institute)
Date: November 30, 2025
Theme: Rethinking the Value and Ranking of American Higher Education in Light of New Cultural, Political, and Institutional Challenges

Episode Overview

This episode investigates the turmoil in American higher education, focusing on elite institutions' ideological conformity, antisemitism, and lack of intellectual diversity. Dan Senor is joined by Raihan Salaam (President, Manhattan Institute) and Kevin Walzerd (Professor, UC Berkeley / Adjunct Fellow, Manhattan Institute) to discuss the newly developed City Journal College Rankings, which aim to account for factors neglected by conventional rankings—such as curriculum, ideological diversity, and campus climate.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origins and Problems of Conventional College Rankings

• Traditional rankings (e.g., U.S. News & World Report) are based on reputational surveys and easily quantifiable metrics, missing “the black box” of what happens academically and socially on campus.
• Raihan Salaam [05:39]: “A small handful of institutions that are seen as elite are shaping the larger universe of higher education and, through that, the larger culture of our country...”
• Rankings reinforce a hierarchy that permeates down to K–12 choices, shaping entire family and societal expectations.

2. The Need for New Metrics

• Mainstream rankings have failed to adapt to persistent crises—antisemitism, intellectual monoculture, grade inflation, and activist-driven pedagogy.
• Kevin Walzerd [12:04]: “Trying to track down all of this information became sort of a full time job. The initial intuition was, can we build a ranking system that aggregates all these really great measures…in a single place?”

3. How the New City Journal Rankings Differ

• Incorporate factors often overlooked:

  • Classroom content: What is actually required and taught?
  • Civics & Core Knowledge: Emphasis on teaching American history, civics, and foundational texts.
  • DEI Requirements: To what extent are students compelled to take diversity, equity, and inclusion courses?
  • Intellectual and Political Diversity: Survey data, student organization census, and balance of student viewpoints.
  • Campus Speech Climate: Freedom of expression, tolerance for controversial speakers, and self-censorship.

• Kevin Walzerd [16:32]: “Nobody’s attempted to look at curriculum because it’s the hardest thing to do. And so...really, for the first time...we look at the general education requirements.... Shockingly small number of universities actually require [basics].”

4. Examples of Reform and Civic Education

• Schools like Arizona State, University of Florida, and UT Austin are introducing core curriculums in civics/western civilization and creating “schools of civic thought.”
• [18:54] Walzerd: “These schools of civic thought attempt to do four separate things...contextualize American ideals...interdisciplinary curriculum, civil discourse, [and] provide intellectual or viewpoint diversity.”

5. What These New “Civic” Initiatives Replace

• The growth of under-enrolled, niche activist departments (e.g., many identity-based “studies” fields) has crowded out broad, foundational education.
• Salam [24:21]: “You have people who are activists...who are burrowing into these institutions...that instead become about indoctrinating...not open intellectual inquiry.”

6. Grade Inflation and Activist Pedagogy

• Grade inflation is linked to activism supplanting rigor.
• Salam [25:30]: “If you’re an academic who’s there to propagandize...you’re not going to go through the headache of giving a student a C- when that’s what they deserve...”

7. Measuring Intellectual Diversity on Campus

• Rankings use survey data (e.g., FIRE) and organizational census to gauge whether students are exposed to a mix of viewpoints.
• Walzerd [30:29]: “Our measures are not how conservative is the student body...but how balanced?...81 out of 100 schools, liberals are the majority.”

8. Surprising Outcomes from New Rankings

• Large public Southeast universities (Florida, UT Austin, Texas A&M, UNC Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech) perform best on measures of ideological diversity, curriculum rigor, and social diversity.
• Salam [34:55]: “These are not people who want to burn it all down...they want to renew and replenish these institutions, make them relevant and restore the legitimacy of selective higher education.”
• Elite schools are solid but unexceptional—e.g., Harvard ranks below 36th—while no school is anywhere near a ‘perfect’ score.
• Walzerd [38:03]: “...even the best universities...there is a lot of work to be done... Even for these 100 schools...there is so much that can be done to improve.”

9. The AI Revolution and the Future of College

• The rise of AI heightens the importance of human skills: resilience, adaptability, curiosity, argumentation, and socialization.
• Salam [42:10]: “What a machine won’t be able to do is act with curiosity, build relationships, learn how to deal with other people...higher education is actually going to be more imperative rather than less...”

10. Forecast for Higher Ed: Crisis and Reform

• Fading public trust, declining youth interest in college, and demographic shrinkage predict mergers, closures, and severe retrenchment.
• Salam [50:41]: “You’re going to see institutions...fighting to survive for relevance. So this is not a flash in the pan.”
• Walzerd [52:32]: “Trust and confidence in higher education has collapsed amongst high school seniors, including their desire to even attend college... we’re about to fall off [a] huge demographic cliff...a major shakeup.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On conventional rankings:
  “A weirdly circular method...these are the institutions considered really selective and great for a million years. And lo and behold, those schools at the top...they don’t actually change that much.” – Raihan Salaam [08:23]

• On grade inflation:
  “If you’re there to propagandize...you’re not going to go through the headache of actually giving a student a C-...that’s demoralizing.” – Raihan Salaam [25:30]

• On the importance of resilience in the AI age:
  “The main thing you want to instill is resilience and love of learning…what are things that machines can’t do? Build relationships, deal with other people, get tested and sharpened.” – Raihan Salaam [42:10]

• On why measuring ideological balance matters:
  “We think...intrinsic value in exposure to competing viewpoints...if you really want a good educational experience, you do not want to embed yourself in a campus where 90% of the students and 95% of the faculty are on the left.” – Kevin Walzerd [31:49]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ranking system flaws and hierarchy: [05:39–07:43]
• Limitation of existing rankings: [08:23–10:54]
• The genesis of the new rankings & what’s measured: [12:04–16:32]
• Curriculum, civics, and required learning: [16:32–21:49]
• Activist departments supplanting civics cores: [23:13–25:30]
• Ideological diversity methods: [30:29–34:34]
• Surprises from the new rankings (public universities excel): [34:55–38:03]
• Elite institutions’ middling performance: [38:03–41:21]
• AI and the enduring value of real education: [42:10–46:01]
• Future: crisis, closures, and concentrated reform: [50:12–54:51]

Conclusion

City Journal’s 2025 college rankings fundamentally reorient what “elite” education means, moving emphasis from prestige and tradition to free inquiry, meaningful curriculum, and preparation for pluralistic, resilient citizenship. The guests argue the higher-ed crisis is only beginning, as demographic, economic, and cultural forces converge to force change, and only those universities willing to reform will thrive in the coming years.