What Makes a "Good College" — and Why It Matters | Cecilia M. Orphan | TED

翻译人员: Mawlili Mu 校对人员: suya f.

Because I'm a college professor,

因为我是一名大学教授，

I'm going to start with a pop quiz.

我选择用一个小考试 来开始我的演讲。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I want you to think of the best college in the country,

我想让你们想一想 美国最好的几所大学

one that you would absolutely love to get into.

那些你想尽全力进入的大学。

One that would change your life completely.

那些会完全改变你的生活的大学。

OK, do you have it?

你想到了什么？

I'm guessing if I went to the audience right now

我觉得如果我现在走向观众席

and asked 100 different people which college they chose,

问100位不同的观众 他们想到了什么大学

I'd hear the same names over and over and over again.

我会听到几所耳熟能详的名字

And that's because we have a huge problem in higher education.

这是因为我们在高等教育中 有一个很大的问题。

We say we want colleges to be more equitable,

我们自称想让大学更加的平等，

more transformational,

更有影响力，

more accessible.

教育更多人。

But we tend to obsess over a tiny group of colleges

但我们会沉迷于一小部分大部分人

most of us could never get into.

这辈子都没法进入的大学。

And it's not because we aren't smart enough.

这不是因为我们不够聪明

It's because there isn't enough space for all of us.

而是因为这些大学的招生名额不够。

These schools intentionally cap the number of students that they accept.

这些学校故意限制录取数量。

It's why Akil Bello, an advocate for fairness in college admissions,

这正是为什么阿基尔·贝洛， 一位置身于招生公平性的提倡者，

calls them something else.

用其他称呼代指这些大学。

They're not prestigious universities.

他们不是著名的大学。

They're highly rejective colleges.

他们是拒绝率很高的大学。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Places like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, MIT.

像哈佛，斯坦福，耶鲁， 普林斯顿，麻省理工这些学校

And I'm not saying these schools are bad.

我不是在说他们不好

They're obviously major research institutions.

他们当然是很重要的科研机构

But our cultural obsession

但是我们文化上对于

with a limited group of highly rejective colleges

一小部分拒绝率高的大学的热爱

has major consequences.

有很严重的后果。

I'm the first person in my immediate family to graduate from college.

我是近亲中第一位获得大学学位的。

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼与鼓掌）

And Portland State University,

波特兰州立大学，

a regional public university in Portland, Oregon,

一个在波特兰， 俄勒冈的区域性大学，

truly changed my life.

彻彻底底的改变了我的生活

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼与鼓掌）

But for a long time,

但是很长一段时间内，

when someone at a networking event asked me where I went to college,

当有人在招聘活动问我在哪里读的大学，

I worried that they'd judge my intellect

我回答时会担心

and my aspirations when I answered.

他们会质疑我的才智与志向。

Now I research higher education

我现在研究高等教育

to understand how our perceptions of which colleges are good

来理解我们对特定大学的喜爱

shape important decisions we make about which schools to fund,

是如何影响赞助，

donate to, attend, and send our children to.

基金，新生的走向。

Regional public universities, or RPUs for short,

区域州立大学，简称RPU，

are the exact opposite of highly rejective colleges.

与高拒绝率大学恰恰相反。

You can spot them because their name tells you which communities they serve.

你能从他们的名字中 得知他们为哪些社区服务。

Western Colorado University,

西科罗拉多大学，

Northern Kentucky University,

北肯塔基大学，

Eastern Washington University.

东华盛顿大学。

In New York, they're the SUNY and the CUNY schools.

SUNY和CUNY大学们为纽约州服务。

In California, they're the 23 CSU campuses.

加油有23个CSU校园。

They’re called “normal schools” in China,

在中国他们被称为师范学校

“Fachschule” in Germany

在中国他们被称为应用科学大学

and “provincial colleges” in Canada and Italy.

在加拿大和意大利 他们被称为省立大学。

These are the universities that train the nurses

这些学校培训

who take care of you when you go to the hospital,

在医院照顾你的护士

the school teachers who educate your children

在学校教育你的孩子的老师

and the small business leaders that create jobs in your home town.

在你家乡创造工作机会的小老板。

Regional public universities, or RPUs, pride themselves on accepting everyone

区域州立大学，或RPU， 以录取所有人而自豪

or almost everyone who applies.

机会所有申请者都会被录取。

And RPU students are more likely to be first generation college students

RPU的学生更有可能是第一代大学生，

like I was,

就像我一样，

students of color, low-income students,

少数族裔学生，低收入学生，

veterans and adults balancing work and family while going to school.

退役老兵和需要兼顾 学业和家庭的成年人。

And RPU students often don't have the test scores required

RPU学生经常没有高拒绝率大学

to get into a highly rejective college.

所要求的标化成绩。

Not because they aren't capable,

不是因为他们能力不足，

but because they weren't given the same advantages as other students.

而是因为他们没有得到 其他学生享有的特权。

My mother was a brilliant woman who had an eighth-grade education,

我的母亲是一位受过 8年教育的聪明的女士，

and she died when she was just 43 years old

她在43岁的时候因为一个可避免的哮喘

of a totally preventable asthma attack

去世了

because she lived in a rural, remote community

因为她住在一个偏远的农村社区

and lacked access to health care.

她得不到医学帮助。

I grew up in poverty

我从小在贫穷中长大

and my test scores were lower

我的考试成绩比别人低

because I prepared for the SATs by showing up on test day

因为不像其他上昂贵补习班的学生，

with a sharpened number-two pencil and a calculator,

我准备SAT的方法是在考试当天

rather than taking expensive test prep courses.

带着2号铅笔和计算器出现。

People sometimes talk about regional public universities in negative ways

大家有时候对区域公立大学带有负面印象

by calling some “the 13th grade”

他们称这些大学为13年级

or saying, “anyone can get in,” as if that’s a bad thing.

或者嫌弃这些学校录取率太高。

Or saying they're not real universities.

或者认为这些学校不是真正的大学。

But shouldn't colleges be judged by how many people they include

难道我们不应该用大学

and raise to the same level of academic excellence

培养的人才数量

rather than by how many people they exclude?

来评价大学吗？

By how well they address the pressing challenges

不应该用他们为当地的社区

facing their local communities?

作出的贡献来评价吗？

Take Adams State University in southern rural Colorado.

以南科罗拉多乡村地区 的亚当斯州立大学为例

Thirty-eight percent of the university’s students are Latinx

百分之三十八的学生是拉丁裔

and half are first in their families to go to college.

过半学生是家里的第一位大学生。

This is Colorado's most affordable university,

这是科罗拉多州最便宜的大学，

and it's one of just a few in the entire country

并且是全国内为数不多的

to offer graduate degrees to students who are currently incarcerated

为想改变生活的囚犯

and working to change their lives.

提供研究生学位的大学。

It contributes 83.5 million dollars each year to the local economy.

它每年为当地社区 的经济提供8.35千万美元。

Regional public universities like Adams State University

亚当斯州立大学这样的区域公立大学

generate more upward mobility than any other type of college.

比其他大学提供了 更多跨越阶层的机会。

But you'll never find it

但是你永远

on a list of America's most prestigious universities.

不会在美国名校排名上找到它。

And it doesn't get the funding it deserves.

并且它不会得到它应得的资金。

Ironically, the colleges that already have the largest endowments

讽刺的是，受到最多资金的大学

tend to receive the biggest charitable donations.

更有可能收到更多的赞助。

Recently, Michael Bloomberg gave Johns Hopkins University

最近，迈克尔·布隆伯格 给予约翰霍普金斯大学

a donation of 1.8 billion dollars.

一百八十万美元赞助。

And this is an incredibly generous gift.

这是一个非常慷慨的礼物。

But before the donation,

但是在这个赞助前，

Johns Hopkins had an endowment of 3.8 billion dollars,

约翰霍普金斯已经收到了 38亿美元的资金，

and it rejects 89 percent of all students who apply.

并且它拒接89%的申请者。

By contrast, Adams State University,

相比之下，亚当斯州立大学，

which prides itself by accepting the top 99 percent of students,

一所以录取99%申请者为荣的大学，

has an endowment of just 63,000 dollars.

仅仅有六万三千美元的资金。

Not million, not billion,

不是百万，不是千万，

63,000 dollars.

六万三千美元。

Shockingly low.

令人震惊的低。

Now, Johns Hopkins produces vital research.

约翰霍普金斯确实在做重要的科研。

But let's imagine, if Michael Bloomberg had spread that donation

但是如果迈克尔·布隆伯格 把它的赞助平分给

across the 430 RPUs in the country,

全国430所区域公立大学，

each would have received four million dollars.

每一所都会收到四百万美元。

Now imagine if your net worth went from being 63,000 dollars

想象一下，如果你的财产从六万三千美元

to four million dollars.

变成四百万美元。

Your life would be pretty different, wouldn't it?

你的生活会发生很大的改变，对吧？

Unfortunately, the government only makes this issue worse.

不幸的是，政府只会让这个问题更糟糕。

In the United States and throughout the world,

在美国以及全世界，

far more public funding goes to highly rejective colleges

政府资金大多流向了高拒绝率大学，

than to regional public universities.

而不是区域公立大学。

Because of this, RPUs have become more expensive,

因为这个，区域公立大学 变得更加昂贵了，

which hurts low-income students

这对低收入学生很不好。

and has caused student loan debt to skyrocket.

并且让学生欠的助学贷款飙升。

If I were 18 years old right now,

如果我今天18岁，

I honestly don’t know if I could afford to go to college

我真的不知道自己还能不能上大学。

given how much tuition has increased

学费增长了大多，

and how little public funding has kept up.

而政府资金并没有怎么增加。

If we really want more low-income students to go to college,

如果我们想让更多 低收入学生读大学，

if we really want equity in higher education,

如果我们真的想 提供平等的高等教育，

we need to put our money where our mouth is

我们需要把钱花在刀刃上，

and fund regional public universities.

赞助区域性公立大学。

Now, many of us have been on the receiving end

我们很多人都收到过

of calls from our alumni association,

母校校友会的电话，

and I don't think the ink was dry on my diploma when my phone rang.

我没毕业几年就收到了这些电话

For my generous friends who may have gone to a highly rejective college,

我去过高拒绝率的慷慨的朋友们，

and don't worry, I'm not mad at you --

不要担心，我没有生气

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But instead of giving to your alma mater,

但除了把捐款

which is probably already very wealthy,

给你们已经很有钱的母校

consider giving it to the colleges that really need it.

考虑给那些需要赞助的大学。

To the RPUs that truly serve their communities.

给那些真正在为社区服务 的区域性公立大学。

Last year, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott

去年，百万富翁慈善家麦肯齐·斯科特

gave 1.5 billion dollars to 73 different colleges and universities

给了73个不同大学15亿美元赞助

that serve low-income students

用来帮助低收入学生

and students of color.

和有色人种学生。

Xavier University of Louisiana,

路易斯安那泽维尔大学，

maybe not a household name,

可能不是一个人人皆知的名字，

but did you know that they send more Black graduates to medical school

但你知道全国没有另一所大学

than any other college in the country?

比它为医学院送出了更多的非裔学生吗？

She gave them 20 million dollars.

她赞助了2千万美元。

And guess what?

你猜怎么着？

That was the largest gift they had ever received.

这是那所大学收到的最大的赞助。

And that was true for most of the schools on her list.

她赞助的大部分学校都是如此。

Places like Long Beach City College,

像长岛城市大学，

the University of Central Florida,

中央弗洛里达大学，

CSU Northridge.

加州州立大學北嶺分校

Many of these schools are regional public universities

大部分受赞助学校 都是区域性公立大学

that so rarely get large donations that her gift was transformative.

它们很少收到赞助， 这位女士的赞助是具有变革性的。

There's no better way to make a difference in higher education

没有比为改变学生生活 的大学做出赞助

than to give to the colleges

更好的改变高等教育的方式

that change the lives of their students and communities.

更好的改变高等教育的方式

But this isn't all about money.

但钱并不是一切。

We all have the power

我们有改变

to change the way we think about

大家对区域性公立大学

and talk about regional public universities,

印象的能力，

or stop people when they frame them in negative ways.

或者阻止那些贬低这些大学的人。

So when you hear someone saying,

当你听到有人说

"Oh, anyone can get into that school,"

“任何人都可以进入那所大学。”

push them on why that's a bad thing.

告诉他们这样的评价是不好的。

You don't have to be rude about it.

你并不一定要很强硬。

You could just say,

你可以说

"Wow, that's amazing

“哇，那所大学

that that school gives so many people the opportunity to go to college."

能够给那么多学生机会 读大学真的很厉害。”

I'm living proof

不过你在哪里出生

that no matter where you were born

或父母有多少钱，

or how much money your parents have,

你都应该拥有读大学，

you should have the opportunity to go to a college

提高自己的见识，

that supports your growth

实现自己梦想的机会。

and fosters your dreams.

我的经历就证明了这点。

When we change the way we define prestige

我们可以改变名校的定义

and fund regional public universities,

并赞助区域性公立大学，

we will make higher education equitable once and for all.

我们会让高等教育更加公平。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼与鼓掌）