Are More Options Always a Good Thing? The Backfiring Effects of Academic Proliferation

The past decade has ushered in dramatic growth in the number of postsecondary degree options available to US students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of … Continue reading “Are More Options Always a Good Thing? The Backfiring Effects of Academic Proliferation”


Are Students Learning the Right Skills? Why Academia Needs to Go Back to the “Basics”

Last year, Forbes published a headline, “Americans rank a Google internship over a Harvard degree.” It seems higher education is quickly losing hold of its value proposition as the best … Continue reading “Are Students Learning the Right Skills? Why Academia Needs to Go Back to the “Basics””






Without Financial Transparency, Colleges Mislabel Research Spending as Instructional

Public colleges spend public money, but college officials are reluctant to make information about their budgets easy to understand. That aversion to transparency makes it easier to pass non-instructional expenses … Continue reading “Without Financial Transparency, Colleges Mislabel Research Spending as Instructional”


Bad Incentives Undermine the Scientific Process

The scientific process is broken. The tenure process, “publish or perish” mentality, and the insufficient review process of academic journals mean that researchers spend less time solving important puzzles and more time pursuing publication. But that wasn’t always the case.


Science and the senator: missing the point about government waste

About to retire, Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn, M.D., has just released his 107-page 2014 Wastebook, a tabloid-type listing of over a hundred wasteful government-funded projects. Coburn continues the tradition of the late William Proxmire, the Wisconsin senator who, more modestly, chose just one or two “Golden Fleeces” each year.