Quote

I loved American universities. In many ways, they are better organized - certainly than French universities.

Our higher education system is one of the things that makes America exceptional. There's no place else that has the assets we do when it comes to higher education. People from all over the world aspire to come here and study here. And that is a good thing.

Indeed, the study of universities and the great men and women who have attended them leads me to think that the best of these schools are characterized not so much by what they teach and how they teach it but by the extent they provide opportunities and encouragement for students to teach themselves.

Access to high-quality education is way too limited. The United States has the world's most admirable higher education system, and yet it is very restrictive. It's so hard to get into. I never got into it as a student.

If we were to compile a list of the ways in which the United States has made both itself and the wider world a better place, then at or very near the top would be its commitment to universal education.

The best university is the university of life.

The strength of the American higher education system is that it is a multifaceted, multi-layered system, and that is what makes us very strong.

I think the University of Texas has the chance to become the finest public university in the country.

I don't think I could have thought of any place other than Stanford to leave Harvard for.

I'd rather see the United States as a beacon of good work and good citizenship, rather than as #1 on some international educational measurement.