null
Loading…
Skip to main content Skip to buy box

Holiday gifts by Fri, Dec 18? Order by Thu, Dec 3. Plan gifts Gifts by Dec 18? Order by Dec 3. Plan

Free shipping on most orders over $95 in the contiguous US

Specialists Mon–Fri, 8:30 am–5 pm PTSpecialists Mon–Fri, 8:30–5 PT866-522-6657

Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education book cover by Richard K. Vedder
Hardcover

Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education

by Richard K. Vedder

$17.67 / copy at 25+ copies As low as $14.68 at 1,000+Your best volume price

Total $441.75

Hardcover · 225 pages Independent Institute · 2025

Format

Hardcover
Volume pricing

The more copies, the less each one costs

Applied automatically in your cart. No code needed.

About the book

Let Colleges Fail

Everyone knows American universities are more expensive and less impressive than ever. But no one has come up with a plan to fix them.

No one…

Until now.

Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education is the hard-hitting instruction manual America needs in order to save its institutions of higher learning.

The solutions proposed herein are unorthodox. They’re stern. They’re tough.

To some, they might even sound utterly shocking.

But they’re bound to work.

Richard Vedder, Senior Fellow at Independent Institute and Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus at Ohio University, asks the forbidden question:

Why do we subsidize universities through taxpayer-provided grants and private donor gifts when the institutions are so obviously failing America’s youth?

How can we justify this special status, while businesses offering far more useful goods and services are punished by confiscatory taxes—for simply turning a well-deserved profit?

The history behind these questions is long, winding, and complicated.

But the solutions to our current crisis are not.

In fact, they’re as time-tested as the study of economics itself.

Vedder reminds Americans of the concept of “creative destruction” (famously introduced by economist Joseph Schumpeter)—the idea that, because markets threaten to reallocate resources from unproductive to productive uses by “creatively destroying” failing businesses, markets actually help failing businesses adapt to the market’s ever-changing needs and realities.

It’s sink or swim.

And in the face of necessity, most businesses—or at least, those worth their salt—learn, however painfully, to swim.

And if universities want to survive, says Vedder, they must learn to swim, too.

But because we have cushioned them from the demands, necessities, and realities of public life, American colleges are weak, woke, and unforgivably obtuse. Their eye-stretching price tag just adds insult to injury.

Read this book and discover:
  • what universities can—indeed, must—learn from the profit-making private sector;
  • why big government needs to get out of the student loan business yesterday … and what will happen if it refuses to do so;
  • why accreditation, though infrequently questioned or critiqued, might actually be unnecessary … or even bad;
  • how privatizing state universities could actually open newer and more affordable finance options;
  • what a healthy voucher/scholarship arrangement could look like;
  • and much, much more …


Daring in its analysis, practical in its problem-solving, and thoroughly readable in its prose, Let Colleges Fail is indispensable reading for those who want America’s colleges to thrive once again.

The book, Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education [Bulk, Wholesale, Quantity] ISBN#9781598134032 in Hardcover by Richard K. Vedder may be ordered in bulk quantities. Minimum starts at 25 copies. Availability based on publisher status and quantity being ordered.

Details

Publisher
Independent Institute
Author
Richard K. Vedder
Format
Hardcover
Published
Apr 15, 2025
ISBN-13
9781598134032
ISBN-10
1598134035
Pages
225
Carton quantity
32 copies
Buying for a group

Let Colleges Fail for groups: pricing

Volume pricing applies automatically in your cart. No codes, no account needed.

CopiesPrice per copyYou save
25 – 99 $17.67 41% off list
100 – 249 $16.77 44% off list
250 – 499 $15.87 47% off list
500 – 999 $15.27 49% off list
1,000+ $14.68 51% off list
Ways groups use it

Popular for

1
Course and classroom adoption

A copy for every student in the class or section.

2
Faculty and staff book studies

Shared reading for professional development.

3
Orientation and campus events

Common reads and first-year programs.

Where can I buy 100 copies of Let Colleges Fail?

BookPal sells Let Colleges Fail in quantity. At 100 copies the price is $16.77 a copy, against a list price of $29.95, and the cart applies the volume tier automatically. Free shipping on most orders over $95 in the contiguous US. A specialist can quote a larger or mixed order.

  • New books only, straight from the publisher
  • Volume prices apply automatically in the cart, with no code needed
  • Order at least 10 business days before you need the books (11 from mid-November through December)

Ask a specialist about a larger or mixed order

What does Let Colleges Fail cost when I buy for a group?

Volume pricing applies automatically in your cart, with no code needed. Price per copy: 25 to 99 copies, $17.67 (41% off list); 100 to 249 copies, $16.77 (44% off list); 250 to 499 copies, $15.87 (47% off list); 500 to 999 copies, $15.27 (49% off list); 1,000+ copies, $14.68 (51% off list). Need a different quantity, or a quote to forward for approval? Ask a specialist and we will confirm pricing before you pay.

How fast can I get copies of Let Colleges Fail?

Need them by a specific date? Request a quote and we'll confirm timing before you pay.

Can you ship to several locations or people's homes?

Yes. We ship group orders to one address, to multiple sites, or to individual recipients, in the US and internationally. See fulfillment options.

Can I get a formal quote for approval before ordering?

Yes. Request a quote and we'll send a PDF you can forward for approval.

Do you accept purchase orders and tax-exempt orders?

Yes. We accept purchase orders upon approval, as well as cards, PayPal, ACH, wire transfers and checks. BookPal is a tax-exempt supplier in all 50 states. See purchase orders and sales tax exemption.

What if I find a lower price?

Send us the link. We match prices from other booksellers and distributors on a new copy in the same edition, available to ship in the quantity you need. Clearance sales and pricing errors are the exception, and we'll tell you quickly if that's the case. Start a price match.

Send for approval

Get a yes from your approver

Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education
Email it to my approver

Your approver gets a link to this page with the quantity set and an "Approve and order" button. Nothing is sent until you press send in your email app.

Log In
Review Your Cart
Your cart is empty Your cart is empty Your cart is empty

Menu

Recently Viewed Recently Viewed
Back to top Back to top