Daren,
There is no historical evidence that the G.I. Bill was a slippery slope leading to an increase in government involvement in higher education.
None of the legislation of the 1950s, for example, could anticipate the free-for-all 1960s. The timeline you provide lists only five pieces of legislation between the G.I. Bill and the 1958 National Defense Education Act (NDEA). Indeed, the timeline does not note the first Sputnik launch of 1957, which prompted the federal government to pour loads of money into higher education for research and development. Do you really think that the Smith-Mundt Act increased the power of the federal government?
The failure of accrediting agencies did not lead to lower standards in higher education, as the DiLorenzo article argues. After returning from war, G.I. Bill veterans were in no mood to participate in a footloose and fancy free college life. Instead, they were generally studious and serious students that attended reputable institutions. Unfortunately, their children were not serious students.
That being said, I do not want to fall into the jeremiad trap. I do not think that we can repent, escape our perlious future and return to an idealized past. Instead, I agree with Michael – politics is never over. Neither are the political lessons to be learned from the past.
