A quarter of a million dollars is the going tab for four years at most top-tier universities. Why does it cost so much and is it worth it? Andrew Hacker, a professor emeritus in the department of political science at Queens College, New York, and Claudia Dreifus, a New York Times writer, make an incisive case that the American way of higher education, now a $420 billion per-year business, has lost sight of its primary mission — producing educated, knowledgeable citizens who can play a role advancing our national life and strengthening our democracy.