Carnegie Classifications—What’s All the Fuss?

May 4, 2018 · Allen Mendenhall · No Comments

“Dartmouth falls out of an exclusive group,” declared a 2016 headline in The Washington Post just days after the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education released its 2015 classifications that moved Dartmouth College from the R-1 (that is, Research 1) to the R-2 (Research 2) category. “A Key Survey Indicates that Dartmouth May Be … Continue reading “Carnegie Classifications—What’s All the Fuss?”

Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing? Jun 19, 2019
Philip Hamburger recently published a piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing that Congress should control administrative bloat by limiting student loan funds given to colleges with too many administrators. He is dead right about the vast increase in non-faculty bureaucracy in recent decades and the need to reduce it. But the sources of the … Continue reading “Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing?”
A Book Full of Advice for High School and College Grads Jun 14, 2019
America’s education establishment beams out a message to young people like a pulsar: Go to college! A high percentage of them do. Once the students are enrolled, however, the schools pretty much leave them alone. To a large degree, students decide what courses they’ll take. What they do in and out of class is up … Continue reading “A Book Full of Advice for High School and College Grads”
Louisiana Discovers the Always-Growing Costs of Free College Jun 12, 2019
Student loan debt has become a major concern for young people. In response, some Democratic candidates for president are offering “free college” proposals. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was the first presidential candidate to propose this in 2016. His plan came with a price tag of $47 billion and had the federal government covering two-thirds of … Continue reading “Louisiana Discovers the Always-Growing Costs of Free College”

Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing? Jun 19, 2019
Philip Hamburger recently published a piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing that Congress should control administrative bloat by limiting student loan funds given to colleges with too many administrators. He is dead right about the vast increase in non-faculty bureaucracy in recent decades and the need to reduce it. But the sources of the … Continue reading “Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing?”
Louisiana Discovers the Always-Growing Costs of Free College Jun 12, 2019
Student loan debt has become a major concern for young people. In response, some Democratic candidates for president are offering “free college” proposals. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was the first presidential candidate to propose this in 2016. His plan came with a price tag of $47 billion and had the federal government covering two-thirds of … Continue reading “Louisiana Discovers the Always-Growing Costs of Free College”
Alumni Want More Free Speech and Influence at Davidson College Jun 10, 2019
Davidson College has an impressive academic reputation. It has a student-faculty ratio of 10:1. Nearly 90 percent of its courses have fewer than 30 students each. Its six-year graduation rate is 91 percent. And it has matriculated 23 Rhodes Scholars. It also has one of the worst track records for free speech in North Carolina. … Continue reading “Alumni Want More Free Speech and Influence at Davidson College”

Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing? Jun 19, 2019
Philip Hamburger recently published a piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing that Congress should control administrative bloat by limiting student loan funds given to colleges with too many administrators. He is dead right about the vast increase in non-faculty bureaucracy in recent decades and the need to reduce it. But the sources of the … Continue reading “Administrative Bloat: Where Does It Come From and What Is It Doing?”
Why Is UNC Funding a ‘Hub for Social Justice?’ Jun 17, 2019
Campus protests started in the 1960s, but protests on today’s college campuses have a different vibe. While protests in the past pitted students against university leadership, protests in the present are supported and accommodated by presidents and administrators. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example, college officials waste resources on political … Continue reading “Why Is UNC Funding a ‘Hub for Social Justice?’”
A Book Full of Advice for High School and College Grads Jun 14, 2019
America’s education establishment beams out a message to young people like a pulsar: Go to college! A high percentage of them do. Once the students are enrolled, however, the schools pretty much leave them alone. To a large degree, students decide what courses they’ll take. What they do in and out of class is up … Continue reading “A Book Full of Advice for High School and College Grads”