ACT Archives — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal

College Sports and Educational Opportunity: Exposing the (Half) Truth

Jun 27, 2018 · Jody Lipford and Jerry Slice · No Comments

Conventional wisdom and public perception hold that college sports provide educational opportunities for thousands of student-athletes who could not afford to attend college without them. The National Collegiate Athletic Association lists “providing opportunities to earn a college degree” as at the heart of its mission and boasts that nearly 500,000 student-athletes participate in college sports … Continue reading “College Sports and Educational Opportunity: Exposing the (Half) Truth”

The SAT and ACT Fall Short, But Now There’s a Better Alternative

Sep 23, 2016 · Jeremy Tate · 9 Comments

Parents, test prep experts, and college counselors give careful thought in working with students as they approach the crucial “college entrance exam.” Which of the two exams should they prep for? Which of the two exams will they do better on? After running an SAT/ACT Prep company for a couple of years, I became convinced … Continue reading “The SAT and ACT Fall Short, But Now There’s a Better Alternative”

The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina Jul 15, 2018
Private colleges and universities face challenges distinct from their public counterparts. For one, unlike public institutions, they are not the recipients of generous state funding. Instead, they rely heavily on revenue generated from tuition—as well as on the generous support of donors. Such a reliance on tuition revenue puts private institutions in a vulnerable position—especially … Continue reading “The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina”
College Students’ Disability Claims Show Unintended Consequences of ADA Jul 13, 2018
Twentieth-century American sociologist Robert Merton popularized a term that is now a part of our everyday vocabulary. “The Law of Unintended Consequences,” often cited but rarely defined, posits that actions of people—and most especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. Since our government is prolific at enacting sweeping legislation, there are countless … Continue reading “College Students’ Disability Claims Show Unintended Consequences of ADA”
Free College Is Just Another Middle-Class Entitlement Jul 9, 2018
Tennessee legislators received a shock in 2012 when a study from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce predicted that by 2020, 55 percent of Tennessee jobs would require some kind of postsecondary education or job training. To elected officials in a state where only a quarter of citizens possessed a bachelor’s degree and … Continue reading “Free College Is Just Another Middle-Class Entitlement”

College Sports and Educational Opportunity: Exposing the (Half) Truth Jun 27, 2018
Conventional wisdom and public perception hold that college sports provide educational opportunities for thousands of student-athletes who could not afford to attend college without them. The National Collegiate Athletic Association lists “providing opportunities to earn a college degree” as at the heart of its mission and boasts that nearly 500,000 student-athletes participate in college sports … Continue reading “College Sports and Educational Opportunity: Exposing the (Half) Truth”
No Harm, No Foul in UNC Sports Scandal Course Dispute May 21, 2018
The Raleigh News & Observer recently published a contentious exchange between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s history professor Jay Smith and vice chancellor of communications Joel Curran concerning Smith’s course “Big-Time College Sports and the Rights of Athletes, 1956-Present.” The course, History (HIST) 383, grew out of Smith’s involvement in UNC’s lengthy … Continue reading “No Harm, No Foul in UNC Sports Scandal Course Dispute”
Are Black Male Athletes Failing to Graduate Because of Racism? Apr 9, 2018
The relationship between participation in sports and academic performance has many faces. Most of them are happy; for instance, many studies show that high school athletes outperform non-athletes academically by a large margin. At the college level, the relationships are more varied, depending on the school, the sport, and the demographic group. Still, college athletes … Continue reading “Are Black Male Athletes Failing to Graduate Because of Racism?”

The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina Jul 15, 2018
Private colleges and universities face challenges distinct from their public counterparts. For one, unlike public institutions, they are not the recipients of generous state funding. Instead, they rely heavily on revenue generated from tuition—as well as on the generous support of donors. Such a reliance on tuition revenue puts private institutions in a vulnerable position—especially … Continue reading “The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina”
Free College Is Just Another Middle-Class Entitlement Jul 9, 2018
Tennessee legislators received a shock in 2012 when a study from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce predicted that by 2020, 55 percent of Tennessee jobs would require some kind of postsecondary education or job training. To elected officials in a state where only a quarter of citizens possessed a bachelor’s degree and … Continue reading “Free College Is Just Another Middle-Class Entitlement”
A Worrisome Trend for Higher Education: Declining Enrollments Jul 6, 2018
A specter is haunting higher education—the specter of declining enrollments. University and college enrollment has fallen nearly 9 percent since 2011, according to the National Student Clearinghouse, and no one is exactly sure why. The decrease is not that obvious yet because the decline follows many decades of tremendous growth in enrollment. On a website … Continue reading “A Worrisome Trend for Higher Education: Declining Enrollments”

The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina Jul 15, 2018
Private colleges and universities face challenges distinct from their public counterparts. For one, unlike public institutions, they are not the recipients of generous state funding. Instead, they rely heavily on revenue generated from tuition—as well as on the generous support of donors. Such a reliance on tuition revenue puts private institutions in a vulnerable position—especially … Continue reading “The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina”
College Students’ Disability Claims Show Unintended Consequences of ADA Jul 13, 2018
Twentieth-century American sociologist Robert Merton popularized a term that is now a part of our everyday vocabulary. “The Law of Unintended Consequences,” often cited but rarely defined, posits that actions of people—and most especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. Since our government is prolific at enacting sweeping legislation, there are countless … Continue reading “College Students’ Disability Claims Show Unintended Consequences of ADA”
The New Head of the Office for Civil Rights Charts a Very Different Course Jul 11, 2018
Last month, the Senate voted to confirm Kenneth L. Marcus as assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education. The vote was 50-46, with not one Democrat supporting him—a point I will return to presently. In that position, he will head up the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). This is the second … Continue reading “The New Head of the Office for Civil Rights Charts a Very Different Course”