A Radically Different Model of American Education: UATX’s Jacob Howland Speaks to the PEP

December 12, 2022 Editor’s Note: The following article has been edited to reflect two errors that have come to The Dartmouth Review’s attention. First, we have edited the names of example Intellectual Foundations (IF) courses from the incorrect “The Origins of Christianity” and “Uses of Technology in the American Experiment” to the correct “Christianity and Islam, Europe and the East,” “The Uses and Abuses of Technology,” and “The American Experiment.” Second, we have edited UATX’s projected inaugural class size (paragraph 9) from 2,500 students to the correct 100.

Since 2021, the stagnation surrounding American higher education has given way to the first inklings of dynamism with the efforts of the University of Austin (UATX) team to found and accredit a new liberal arts college “dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth.” Like any start-up, UATX has faced detractors, dismissing the university as a pipe-dream, political pet project, or both. Nevertheless, those who question the feasibility of UAustin are sorely misinformed. A Political Economy Project talk on Monday, September 26 by the university’s Chief Academic Officer, Jacob Howland, made clear that UATX has already begun disrupting the American academy.

From its promotional materials and online presence, it is clear that the University of Austin tries to market itself as something altogether different from its competitors. After all, in a country with more than 5,000 institutions of higher education, it is imperative for a school to separate itself from the pack. Nevertheless, Howland clarified that the difference UATX attempts to offer its potential students is a fundamental one. The University of Austin does not seek to reform America’s traditional model of a university but rather upend it.

The changes Howland listed in his talk, entitled “Revitalizing American Higher Education: The Promise of the University of Austin,” are radical. 

In place of large, on-campus administrative bureaucracies, UATX plans to make administration remote, outsourcing positions abroad. Not only will this arrangement save university funds, Howland noted, but it would also pay foreign workers livable, US-level wages. Further, the school will forgo—along with competitive varsity sports—what he called “club-med amenities”: climbing gyms, student recreation centers with ball pits and golf simulators, napping stations, private pools, and the like. UAustin has even rethought the principle of reserving classroom space for each academic department—at UATX, departments will have control over their budgets and bid for classrooms in a market. The money saved by this and other initiatives, Howland said, will go towards instruction.

UAustin has even rethought the principle of reserving classroom space for each academic department—at UATX, departments will have control over their budgets and bid for classrooms in a market. The money saved by this and other initiatives, Howland said, will go towards instruction.

Indeed, financial health seems to be a major focus of the entire UATX project, along with teaching quality. In Howland’s view, financial instability is a root cause of the decay in higher education. A lack of funds leads administrations to chase income over quality leading to the replacement of good professors with adjuncts. “Financially unstable universities inevitably erode academically,” Howland said. And yet, UATX’s vision includes no room for tenure. After all, the professor explained, 80% of large universities have or are considering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements (read: affirmative action) for the coveted academic appointment. Such a system has led to increasing (leftist) ideological conformity amongst college faculties, with out-and-proud conservatives unlikely to receive tenure or even be hired at most institutions.

This status quo, Howland’s speech made clear, is antithetical to the values and mission of UATX. Far from trying to emulate its explicitly conservative counterparts in Hillsdale College and Liberty University, UATX seeks to be a “trans-political” space, where all ideological sides can be considered. Howland stated this principle succinctly: “Intellectual pluralism in place of sclerosis.” To make this a reality, the young institution will offer academics graduated term contracts with deliverables. The trade-up for no tenure, Howland said, would be the promise of low course loads and hard-to-find competitive salaries. Academic freedom in this tenure-less paradigm would be guaranteed by an external and independent committee that would adjudicate conflicts between faculty and the administration.

However articulated UATX’s proposed academic reforms are, they are nothing compared to the university’s curriculum. The Intellectual Foundations (program) is to dominate the first two years of an undergraduate education at UAustin, with small-group seminars emphasizing writing and discussion. The classes composing this core curriculum are to be “transdisciplinary” and focus on texts from a common reading list. Howland even gave examples of what some IF courses might focus on, including “Christianity and Islam, Europe and the East,” “The Uses and Abuses of Technology,” and “The American Experiment.” In many ways, IF seems to be the latest installment in the proud American tradition of the ‘core curriculum,’ providing a liberal-arts grounding for undergraduates’ specialized individual study to come.

The trade-up for no tenure, Howland said, would be the promise of low course loads and hard-to-find competitive salaries. Academic freedom in this tenure-less paradigm would be guaranteed by an external and independent committee that would adjudicate conflicts between faculty and the administration.

In place of a major, UATX will offer juniors and seniors the opportunity to study in one of the university’s “Centers of Inquiry.” Described on the university website as “a combination of interdisciplinary research institutes, think tanks, and start-up incubators,” the centers will serve as homes for the creative, scholarly, or entrepreneurial culminating projects undertaken by each upperclassman. Announced centers include one for “Politics, Economics, and Applied History” and another for “Mathematics, Technology, and Engineering.” The point of the projects, Howland emphasized, is for students to connect with people and employ resources outside the university. Accomplishment is to be far less important than process.

However, it was clear in the talk that, since its announcement in November of 2021, UATX has moved beyond mere ideation into actual execution. Far from providing vague principles, UAustin’s Chief Academic Officer proffered rationales, details, and mechanics. Indeed, if Howland made any point clear at Dartmouth, it was that the university is “really happening,” no matter what its detractors say. The data back this up. Hundreds of students from across the world applied for the school’s inaugural Forbidden Courses in the Summer of 2022 (of which the author was one). So far, UATX has received 5,000 job applications (including 2,000 in one day), fielded 3,000 student inquiries, and won over 1,500 donors. Even right now, UAustin is recruiting professors to ensure it can host an inaugural undergraduate class of 100 with a 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio by Fall of 2024. 

Despite the very real fact that UATX will be matriculating freshmen in two years, the university still has a long way to go. Many still doubt that the UAustin team can meet its promises. One Dartmouth professor in the audience even seemed surprised at the level of detail Howland went into at the Political Economy Project, commenting, “You’ve thought about this a lot.” As Howland even admitted near the end of the Q&A session, the university also has very little of a formal admissions process. When asked what the pipeline would look like, he jokingly responded, “That is a great question.” 

Nevertheless, the fact that a leader of a so-far unaccredited academic institution with neither a campus nor full-time student base could draw a crowd of close to 40 Dartmouth students and faculty members at 4:30pm on a Monday bodes well for the future of the UATX project. Both teachers and pupils in the American education system are hungry for change. As Howland said, “demand outpaces supply,” but the University of Austin looks ready to eventually meet it.