Episode 246: Thomas M. Ward, Professor of Philosophy, on Affordability and Federal Interference in Higher Education (October 19, 2022)

This week on The Open Door (Oct. 19th) we explore two crises in higher education. The first is affordability for students. The second is federal interference in colleges and universities. But crises call for thoughtful responses. One such response is the development of Great Books colleges. Our special guest is Thomas M. Ward, a professor of philosophy at Baylor University. He is also the author of Divine Ideas (Cambridge, 2020) and John Duns Scotus on Parts, Wholes, and Hylomorphism (Brill, 2014). His most recent book is Ordered by Love: An Introduction to Duns Scotus (Angelico, 2022). Among the questions we’ll ask Professor Ward are the following. As always, we encourage you to suggest others.

1. Prof. Ward, Tom if we may, could you please tell us a bit about yourself and your family?
2. What led you to philosophy and, in due time, to Baylor University?
3. What are the key factors that make higher education so expensive?
4. Can you identify for us some of the pros and cons of President Biden’s debt forgiveness program? Is it equitable?
5. How does an increasing federal subsidy of higher education pave the way to increasing federal control of what is taught? Why should both religious and secular institutions be alert to this connection?
6. What is the Academic Freedom Alliance?
7. Some mission-oriented institutions refuse federal aid and remain both free of government interference and simultaneously affordable. How have they managed to do so?
8. How can families help resolve the crises caused by federal financing of higher education?
9. How can students help resolve these same crises?
10. Where do you see yourself, as a reformer and scholar, a decade from now?