Author Profile

Vance Fried

Vance H. Fried is the Riata Professor of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of Better/Cheaper College: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Rescuing the Higher Education Industry. His current research focuses on strategic innovation in higher education and free enterprise public policy. In addition, he has published extensively on the venture capital industry and the management of firms financed by venture capital. He holds a B.S. in finance from Oklahoma State University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. He is also a CPA.

Articles by Vance Fried

Affordable College Is Here

Feb 7, 2020 · Vance Fried · No Comments

At TEL Library we’ve taken a major step toward reducing the cost of college with the launch of our Courses-on-Demand program. Through this program, students anywhere in the U.S. can take college courses that are entirely self-paced and allow students to start anytime they desire. The all-inclusive cost of these courses is $44 per credit … Continue reading “Affordable College Is Here”

The Endowment Trap

Mar 29, 2011 · Vance Fried · No Comments

Why should a school create a fund that it never intends to spend? Schools aren’t trust companies; they are educational institutions.

A Modest Proposal for Fixing the College Modern Language Requirement Jan 15, 2021
In her fine opinion piece for the Martin Center, Megan Zogby bemoans the “Quixotic” requirement that North Carolina college and university students take between two and four courses in a language such as Spanish, French, or German. This requirement, Zogby asserts, “appears to have no meaningful effect on the language proficiency of college graduates.” What is more, … Continue reading “A Modest Proposal for Fixing the College Modern Language Requirement”
Did You Know? Disrupt Texts Is the Latest Attack on the Western Canon Jan 14, 2021
Penguin Classics is partnering with Disrupt Texts to replace Shakespeare and Homer with Ibram X. Kendi. What is Disrupt Texts? For the uninitiated, it is a new radical movement in classrooms which seeks to disrupt the “hegemony of English” and the Western canon by replacing them. According to its own website, Disrupt Texts is a “crowdsourced, grassroots effort by … Continue reading “Did You Know? Disrupt Texts Is the Latest Attack on the Western Canon”
The Spurning of Old Books: The Devaluation of the Past Threatens Higher Ed Jan 13, 2021
Alan Jacobs’ new book, Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind, is a coaxing argument to read “old books that come from strange times.” Readers of his previous works The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction and How to Think will not be surprised that Jacobs, distinguished … Continue reading “The Spurning of Old Books: The Devaluation of the Past Threatens Higher Ed”

Did You Know? UNC Schools Will Get Millions in COVID-19 Funding Jan 7, 2021
Last week, Congress approved the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, a $2.4 trillion spending package that includes $23 billion in aid for public and non-profit colleges and universities. The relief package will provide about $286 million in new Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF) to UNC system schools. Of that amount, almost $90 million is … Continue reading “Did You Know? UNC Schools Will Get Millions in COVID-19 Funding”
Reforming Higher Ed in 2021 Jan 4, 2021
The year 2020 brought changes that colleges would have never made by choice. Enrollment declines, remote classes, and dramatic employee cuts (for faculty and some staff alike) were unthinkable a year ago. But, for the sake of the future, more work remains. Below are some priorities the Martin Center staff would like to see catch … Continue reading “Reforming Higher Ed in 2021”
Did You Know? In 2020, Students Stopped Transferring Dec 31, 2020
Students listened to public health advice for 2020: stay at home. A report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that transfer students fell by 8.1 percent compared to fall 2019. That was more than three times the 2.4 percent decline in overall student enrollment. Rather than make a change in an uncertain environment, … Continue reading “Did You Know? In 2020, Students Stopped Transferring”

A Modest Proposal for Fixing the College Modern Language Requirement Jan 15, 2021
In her fine opinion piece for the Martin Center, Megan Zogby bemoans the “Quixotic” requirement that North Carolina college and university students take between two and four courses in a language such as Spanish, French, or German. This requirement, Zogby asserts, “appears to have no meaningful effect on the language proficiency of college graduates.” What is more, … Continue reading “A Modest Proposal for Fixing the College Modern Language Requirement”
The Importance of College Advisors for Academic Success Dec 28, 2020
When planning their college years, students want reliable advisors who can help them pick the right major and classes. As most students are not on campus during COVID-19, high-quality early advising may determine whether they will graduate on time. Even before the pandemic, graduation rates across higher ed outside the most prestigious schools were a … Continue reading “The Importance of College Advisors for Academic Success”
True Learning Starts With Real Mentorship Dec 21, 2020
There’s a chasm between the purpose of a liberal arts education and how many colleges and universities actually operate. Throughout academia, excessive value is placed on efficiency, research publications, and prestige—things that are, at best, ancillary to a liberal education’s central purpose of growing in wisdom and pursuing truth. Consequently, instead of focusing on nurturing … Continue reading “True Learning Starts With Real Mentorship”

A Modest Proposal for Fixing the College Modern Language Requirement Jan 15, 2021
In her fine opinion piece for the Martin Center, Megan Zogby bemoans the “Quixotic” requirement that North Carolina college and university students take between two and four courses in a language such as Spanish, French, or German. This requirement, Zogby asserts, “appears to have no meaningful effect on the language proficiency of college graduates.” What is more, … Continue reading “A Modest Proposal for Fixing the College Modern Language Requirement”
Did You Know? Disrupt Texts Is the Latest Attack on the Western Canon Jan 14, 2021
Penguin Classics is partnering with Disrupt Texts to replace Shakespeare and Homer with Ibram X. Kendi. What is Disrupt Texts? For the uninitiated, it is a new radical movement in classrooms which seeks to disrupt the “hegemony of English” and the Western canon by replacing them. According to its own website, Disrupt Texts is a “crowdsourced, grassroots effort by … Continue reading “Did You Know? Disrupt Texts Is the Latest Attack on the Western Canon”
The Spurning of Old Books: The Devaluation of the Past Threatens Higher Ed Jan 13, 2021
Alan Jacobs’ new book, Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind, is a coaxing argument to read “old books that come from strange times.” Readers of his previous works The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction and How to Think will not be surprised that Jacobs, distinguished … Continue reading “The Spurning of Old Books: The Devaluation of the Past Threatens Higher Ed”