Did you ever wonder what the difference is between a Catholic university and a public (non-sectarian) university and what they have in common?

While the US has a free K-12 public education, its failure to fund higher education means that America's economy is unable to compete with other developed nations that have free universities.

If media headlines on the declining quality of students being produced by America's public education system ever get you down, take a trip to the Binghamton University campus of the State University of New York.

If ever the United States needed to formulate a long-range compass for the future of its higher education system, now is that time. And if ever the United States needed to make a long-term cut: fiscal investment to safeguard those aspirations against short-term contingencies, and to declare education as its highest priority both for the good of its citizens and for the continued welfare and security of the nation, now is that time.