Transworld acquires rights to ‘explosive’ book on state of our universities from Matt Goodwin

Transworld has acquired the rights to an “explosive” new book on the state of our universities from academic, writer, pollster and campaigner Professor Matt Goodwin. World all-language rights to Bad Education: Why Our Universities Are Broken and How We Can Fix Them were acquired by Henry Vines, editorial director, Transworld from Charlie Brotherstone, Aevitas Creative Management.

Goodwin stood down from his post at the University of Kent in July, citing growing personal concern for the state of higher education, in the UK and abroad. In the book, Goodwin argues that behind the scandals and protests that have dominated news headlines our universities have “lost sight of their founding mission: to uphold free expression, to promote the search for knowledge and meaning, and to nurture a new generation of critical thinkers who will shape the future”.

Goodwin said: “Established as sanctuaries of truth and higher learning, in recent years our universities have been consumed by a series of crises, from funding woes to corruption and corporate mismanagement, from rising levels of intolerance and political activism to declining teaching standards and the demise of academic freedoms, all against a backdrop of decaying facilities and increasingly disengaged students. After more than 20 years of teaching and research, I have decided to step back from academia so I can write this book, exposing truths and expressing views that I know many other frustrated academics share but feel they cannot voice. Our universities are failing a generation of students and this is a vital issue that we all share a stake in.”

Bad Education  will be published by Bantam in hardback, audio and ebook on 16 January 2025.