Forbes Breaking News
  • last year
In a video released to social media, former President Trump unveiled a new plan for "The American Academy" and called for reform in higher education.
Transcript
00:00 In recent weeks, Americans have been horrified to see students and faculty at Harvard and
00:05 other once-respected universities expressing support for the savages and jihadists who
00:11 attacked Israel.
00:13 We spend more money on higher education than any other country, and yet they're turning
00:18 our students into communists and terrorists and sympathizers of many, many different dimensions.
00:25 We can't let this happen.
00:26 It's time to offer something dramatically different.
00:30 Under the plan I'm announcing today, we will take the billions and billions of dollars
00:34 that we will collect by taxing, fining, and suing excessively large private university
00:41 endowments, and we will then use that money to endow a new institution called the American
00:46 Academy.
00:48 Its mission will be to make a truly world-class education available to every American, free
00:53 of charge, and do it without adding a single dime to the federal debt.
00:59 This institution will gather an entire universe of the highest quality educational content
01:04 covering the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills and make that material available
01:11 to every American citizen online for free.
01:14 Whether you want lectures or ancient histories or an introduction to financial accounting
01:20 or training in a skilled trade, the goal will be to deliver it and get it done properly
01:26 using study groups, mentors, industry partnerships, and the latest breakthrough in computing.
01:34 This will be a truly top-tier education option for the people.
01:38 It will be strictly nonpolitical, and there will be no wokeness or jihadism allowed.
01:44 None of that's going to be allowed.
01:46 Most importantly, the American Academy will compete directly with the existing and very
01:50 costly four-year university system by granting students degree credentials that the U.S.
01:56 government and all federal contractors will henceforth recognize.
02:02 The Academy will award the full and complete equivalent of a bachelor's degree.
02:07 In addition to help the 40 million Americans who have some college education but no degree,
02:13 the American Academy will grant credit for past coursework at legacy institutions and
02:19 give you the chance to complete your education at the American Academy for free and much
02:25 more quickly than is now possible or available.
02:29 This will be a revolution in higher education and will provide life-changing opportunities
02:34 for tens of millions of our citizens.
02:37 Enjoy it, learn from it, and thank you.