Lies We Like: The Self-Delusion of American Higher Education
What trustees, lawmakers, and taxpayers need to know
Coming January 25, 2027. Pre-orders open October 15.
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Five lies. One question.
Tuition keeps climbing. Colleges insist they're doing everything they can. Stephen Ludwig spent 12 years as an elected University of Colorado regent. He says they aren't.
The people running our colleges are good people. Most sincerely believe they put students first. But the rewards around them push in another direction, and the gap gets covered with comfortable stories. The lies we like.
The book names five:
We do everything we can to keep tuition low.
Research is good for undergraduates.
Tradition is mission.
We should emulate elite colleges.
We put students first.
Then it offers a way out. FS², a Focus on Students and Service, starts with one question any trustee, lawmaker, or taxpayer can ask: Does this decision serve the student, or does it serve us?
This is not a call to burn higher education down. It's a call to make it keep its promise.
About Stephen C. Ludwig
Stephen Ludwig has spent his career close to where decisions get made, and he has watched how often the most important ones get dodged.
For twelve years, Stephen served as an elected member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, including a term as Vice-Chair. He helped govern one of the country's major public university systems through budget fights, leadership transitions, and hard debates over what a university owes the students and taxpayers who sustain it. Those years gave him an insider's view of how boards actually work, and of the comfortable fictions that too often stand in for real oversight.
His path to the boardroom was not typical. He put himself through college, attending two community colleges before graduating with high distinction from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Stephen began his professional career as a broadcaster at 18. He later served as Vice President for marketing, communications, and strategy for a $1 billion business unit at CH2M (now Jacobs), a Fortune 500 engineering firm. Across media, business, and public service, one question kept coming back to him: who is this institution really serving?
Lies We Like: The Self-Delusion of American Higher Education is his answer. Written for trustees, lawmakers, and taxpayers, the book introduces the FS² framework, Focus on Students and Service, as a practical standard for judging governance decisions. It takes on the gap between the ideals of higher education and how it actually operates, and it argues that accountability and academic freedom can coexist, but only if institutions stop believing the stories that make their jobs easier.
Today Stephen leads Varus Insight, an executive coaching, facilitation, and consulting practice. He works with senior leaders and leadership teams in the public and private sectors on major strategic issues.
Stephen lives in Denver, Colorado. Lies We Like is his first book.
Media and bulk orders
Stephen is available for TV, radio, print, and podcast interviews. Want copies for your board, caucus, or association? Ask about bulk orders.