evidence: Bumps and all, it’s been the Golden Age for American higher education ever since. [...] Higher education remains our accidental triumph. [...] What we have with American higher education is not a system; it’s an anarchy. Administrations are generally incompetent, faculty mostly ungovernable. It’s a bit of a nut farm, but it’s who we are. No other nation can match the singular accomplishments of American higher education. American faculty still dominate worldwide research competitions. And it’s all happened by accident.