NC Promise’s Costs and Benefits: An Early Analysis

Mar 11, 2019 · Will Rierson · No Comments

Concerned about the high cost of college, the University of North Carolina system is testing a low-tuition model at some schools to drive up enrollments. Though the experiment only started last fall, some preliminary observations can be made. The North Carolina Promise Tuition Plan was created by legislators in 2016 to help students who struggle … Continue reading “NC Promise’s Costs and Benefits: An Early Analysis”

Politicized Art Schools Are Losing Students to the Atelier Movement May 22, 2019
A series of disasters face art colleges and the art departments of American universities. Their campuses are closing, their freshmen numbers are dwindling, and their graduates are struggling. Getting more students into an art program is a hard sell. To restore their appeal, art schools would do well to de-politicize their programs and focus on … Continue reading “Politicized Art Schools Are Losing Students to the Atelier Movement”
Keeping Journalists in the Dark: ‘Citation Cartels’ Limit Public Knowledge May 17, 2019
The public relies on journalists to learn about and share academic research. Public knowledge can be undermined, however, when academics try to influence what research journalists cover or limit the “acceptable debate” about an issue. This influence can be achieved through “citation cartels,” where sympathetic researchers cite and reference one another and ignore or dismiss … Continue reading “Keeping Journalists in the Dark: ‘Citation Cartels’ Limit Public Knowledge”
From Indoctrination to Education: Salvaging the University May 10, 2019
Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from Coming Home: Reclaiming America’s Conservative Soul (ISBN: 9781641770569), to be published by Encounter Books on May 14. The promise of higher education has become a trap for tens of millions of Americans. The promise: Every one of us and our children could go to college, earn a … Continue reading “From Indoctrination to Education: Salvaging the University”

Bill Roundup: The Higher Ed Topics Prioritized by the North Carolina General Assembly May 20, 2019
May 9 was the “crossover” deadline for bills in the North Carolina General Assembly. For a bill to have survived past that date, it must have either passed at least one chamber or carried a substantial spending component. For bills focused on higher education, about a dozen are left standing—mostly because they contain appropriations. Bills … Continue reading “Bill Roundup: The Higher Ed Topics Prioritized by the North Carolina General Assembly”
Forgiving Student Debt Isn’t the Solution to Anything May 15, 2019
The time-honored American tradition of outlandish political promises continues apace. Now, the spotlight is on student debt. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren added to the debate recently when she put forward a proposal to cancel $640 billion worth of federal and private student loans. Warren touts her plan as a way to boost the economy, … Continue reading “Forgiving Student Debt Isn’t the Solution to Anything”
The High Price of Faculty and Administrative Salaries in the UNC System May 13, 2019
Faculty pay can vary greatly across universities and even within the same university system. Among University of North Carolina schools, the type of institution can matter as much as a professor’s job title. Yet, for even the most highly paid professors, their salaries are eclipsed by administrators. A Martin Center analysis of salary data from … Continue reading “The High Price of Faculty and Administrative Salaries in the UNC System”

Identity Politics Versus Basic Logic: Should Colleges Offer Affirmative Action for the Female Majority? May 24, 2019
Academic postmodernism is no stranger to the idea that classical Enlightenment values such as reason, equal treatment, and individual agency should be cast aside for the sake of racial and sexual grievances. We should denounce reason and science as the legacy of “dead white men”—or so we are told. Western academia has become both ideologized … Continue reading “Identity Politics Versus Basic Logic: Should Colleges Offer Affirmative Action for the Female Majority?”
Politicized Art Schools Are Losing Students to the Atelier Movement May 22, 2019
A series of disasters face art colleges and the art departments of American universities. Their campuses are closing, their freshmen numbers are dwindling, and their graduates are struggling. Getting more students into an art program is a hard sell. To restore their appeal, art schools would do well to de-politicize their programs and focus on … Continue reading “Politicized Art Schools Are Losing Students to the Atelier Movement”
Bill Roundup: The Higher Ed Topics Prioritized by the North Carolina General Assembly May 20, 2019
May 9 was the “crossover” deadline for bills in the North Carolina General Assembly. For a bill to have survived past that date, it must have either passed at least one chamber or carried a substantial spending component. For bills focused on higher education, about a dozen are left standing—mostly because they contain appropriations. Bills … Continue reading “Bill Roundup: The Higher Ed Topics Prioritized by the North Carolina General Assembly”

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Will Rierson

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NC Promise’s Costs and Benefits: An Early Analysis