'Deny public tax dollars for social justice education,' researcher argues
David Randall calls for higher education reform in his critique on the costs of social justice programs.
He spoke with 'Campus Reform' about his research on the tuition and students fees that fund these certificates and degrees.
Several colleges now offer degrees in social justice, and students can pay a steep price for them.
Campus Reform recently surveyed tuition at US public universities and spoke with researcher David Randall about his 2019 report on the costs of these social justice programs.
According to Randall, social justice programming on campus costs students about $10 billion a year in tuition costs and university fees.
”The only way to protect tuition dollars from the social justice advocates is systematic reform of higher education,” Randall said.
“The social justice advocates are in the process of trying to take over the entire university — to make every class and every activity forward social justice, to restrict hiring to social justice advocates, and thus to divert all tuition revenue toward social justice,” he added.
[RELATED:Here are the colleges offering ‘social justice’ degrees]
For example, Texas A&M University recently announced the creation of a new social justice leadership certificate to help students address racial equity within non-profit organizations.
The university charges $1,499 for the certificate, requiring students to make a “commitment to all five courses up front.” Additionally, Texas A&M charges $349 for related “Individual Continuing & Professional Education courses.”
To fight back against the increasing cost of social justice programs, Randall argued in his report for legislation banning the use of federal student loans to cover the costs, which would severely slow down universities requiring them for graduation.
“A priority should be to deny public tax dollars for social justice education,” Randall wrote.
Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), a public university, has a bachelor’s degree in Social Justice Studies, which asks students, “Who do you want to be and what role do you want to play in developing a more just world?”
The average debt of a Eastern Kentucky University undergrad is $26,516. The average salary post-grad is $33,000. EKU students default on their student loans at a 10.2% rate, which is higher than the national average.
[RELATED: Students earn credit for ‘organizing’ for ‘social justice’]
Similarly, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has a “graduate certificate in anti-Racism” where students can get “advanced degree that provides an understanding of education in urban environments with a focus on race, racism, and anti-racism.”
By the end of the program, students will be able to “develop a plan of action to effectively address racism in local contexts.”
The program costs $3,365 for residents of North Carolina, and $12,321 for non-residents.
Campus Reform reached out to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Texas A&M University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
