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”
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”
I can’t remember a single alternative to college proposed to me, for me, my entire school-age life. That I would go to college after high school was presented by adults and taken by me as a given. How I would pay for it was always a thing to be figured out later. My mom had … Continue reading “Money for Nothing: The Worst of Student Loan Debt Hits College Dropouts”
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”
One of my favorite projects at the Martin Center is the cultivation of our higher education library. So far, we’ve collected nearly 700 books about higher education and educational philosophy. Even before COVID-19, books were a respite from the pressures of daily life, the 24/7 news cycle, and the acrimony of politics. Now, with gatherings … Continue reading “10 Books We’d Like to Find Under the Christmas Tree in 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”
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series. In May of 2020, my wife and I took our retirement after more than 30 years of teaching college, the last 20 years of which we spent at what I will call Upstate Consolation University, a mid-tier state college somewhere in the Northeast. My wife … Continue reading “Leaving the Blight of Higher Education: Part I–Farewell, Students”
Three universities in North Carolina host chapters of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, a group with ties to the Chinese government. According to a May article in Campus Reform, Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and NC State all have chapters. The website of the Chinese Students & Scholars Friendship Association at NC State states that … Continue reading “Did You Know? Chinese Government Influence at North Carolina Colleges”
It has never been harder to teach artistic individualism in America. A religious devotion to the causes of social justice dominates the ideas of professors in the academy, and David Randall’s report “Social Justice Education in America” has made clear that their evangelical zeal for teaching students the merits of intersectional political activism is topped … Continue reading “To De-Politicize Art Schools, Students Need to Fight Back “
For decades, universities have required students to fulfill a foreign language requirement. However, some research has shown that two semesters of a foreign language appears to have no meaningful effect on the language proficiency of college graduates. Putting students through language classes adds to their tuition bill, but doesn’t teach them a new skill for … Continue reading “NC State’s Quixotic Foreign Language Requirement”