In the 1900s, U.S. higher education imported knowledge and best practices from European universities in order to build a national educational and research industry that is now the envy of the world. It is no surprise that U.S. universities are currently recognized as the best with more top-100 universities than any other country. And of course U.S. universities improved upon the European model, for example, by creating the liberal arts curriculum in the early 20th century, which quickly became a defining feature of the American university education. In addition, the creation of the National Science Foundation after WWII fueled a post-war research program that made the United States the dominant global leader in research.
The unparalleled stature that top US research universities hold in the world today is predicated on their ability to drive discovery and innovation, but this ability to create a high proportion of the most important research discoveries does not extend to cultivating an inventive mindset as an intentional part of the undergraduate educational experience. And it is this trend that is leading our universities to neglect fulfilling the full promise of US undergraduate education today.
