Guatemala

I recently visited a private university in Guatemala, UFM. I was astounded by what I found. In a country torn by years of civil war, poverty, and drug gangs, there are major power blocks of both communist and socialist political groups. Democracy in this fragile country is hanging on by a thread.

In the worst of this environment, 35 years ago, 6 business men banded together to form their free market university, UFM. They built a small campus devoted to the education of free market thinkers, hoping that such education could help protect the future of their country. And so far, so good.

The school, an extremely modern campus with dedicated students, continues to teach the benefits of freedom. That may sound trivial to us in the United States, but I assure you, in Guatemala it is anything but trivial. The founders of the school, living in a dangerous environment, risked their very lives to stand for what they believe in. And if they fail, and communism takes hold, then you can be sure that prison would be about the best outcome they could hope for.

If the United States has such a university it would be a private campus with over 100,000 students (based on similar attendance percentages). It would shock the academic world by not allowing a teacher's union or tenure, and it would post graduation and job placement numbers much higher than normal. Full professors would teach nearly every class on campus, and teaching, rather than research, would be the main job of all school employees.

Personally, I want to build such a place. We need it. We can do it. And the time is ripe. Our university system in the U.S. is lazy, expensive, and arrogant beyond understanding. Unionization has tainted the system to the point of breaking. And I am appalled at the idea of spending $100,000 per child to support it.