Academics

Future leaders in business, government, and civil society need more than just job skills. The following articles defend the value of liberal education, with a focus on academic quality and rigor, fundamental knowledge, and the ideas that have shaped Western Civilization. They also scrutinize academic programs that have departed from these ideals in the name of progressive ideology.

A mini scandal amid a maxi push for federal control

Apr 30, 2007 · Jane S. Shaw

It’s happening beneath the radar of most media and the public, but it is a major conflict, nonetheless. The prize that is being fought over is accreditation – who decides which schools are “good enough” so that their students can receive federal financial aid (such as Pell grants).

Nominally, eight regional associations accredit most of the nation’s undergraduate school (they divide up the country like a cartel, says George Leef, and have little competition). But dissatisfaction with these organizations is strong, especially from Department of Education secretary Margaret Spellings. She is trying to persuade the accreditors to measure student learning, rather than tally inputs such as the number of books in the library.

Should students all be “college-ready”?

Apr 27, 2007 · Martin Center Staff

Recently adopted regulations for high school graduation are threatening to shrink vocational education. Following the increasingly popular nostrum that all students should be prepared for college, the state of North Carolina now requires all students to complete the courses required for admission to the UNC system. This requirement adds a course in advanced math and two courses in a foreign language.

Superintendent of Education June Atkinson concedes that vocational and arts courses could get pushed aside. Since the requirements were enacted, some legislators have fought to increase funding for vocational courses. S.B. 1473, introduced by Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow, would provide $150 million in funding for high school regional vocational education centers that would teach subjects such as biomedical technology, automotive technology, and construction skills.

What If the U.S. News College Rankings Went Bye-Bye?

Apr 25, 2007 · George Leef

Ask Americans how they know which colleges and good and which ones aren’t so good and they’ll probably say, “the U.S. News college rankings.”

For several decades, the annual issue of U.S. News & World Report that focuses on the rankings of colleges, universities, and graduate schools has been treated with exceeding respect by the public. It purports to identify the best university, best liberal arts college, best law and medical schools and so on according to a complicated formula. Rarely do people analyze that formula and ask if it’s a reliable means of identifying schools where students are most likely to receive an excellent education.

Guns, Troubled Students, and Campus Security

Apr 23, 2007 · Jane S. Shaw

Last week, Pope Center writer Shannon Blosser expressed our sorrow at the lives horribly cut short by the massacre at Virginia Tech. He said that it was wrong to “play the blame game,” as some of the media had started to do, so quickly after the tragedy. It was more appropriate, he said, to honor the victims whose lives ended so suddenly.

There would be time to examine the causes of this tragedy and consider future policies. Now is the time. Indeed, in blogs and op-eds, commentators have addressed three major issues: guns, university dealings with troubled students, and campus security, as well as made broader societal statements.

Let’s Hold Off the Blame Game at Virginia Tech

Apr 19, 2007 · Shannon Blosser

It seems fruitless on this day to comment on the “inside baseball” of the state budget process or the academic climate within higher education. There are other days and other weeks for those serious conversations.

This week, all such policy discussions take a back seat to the briefness of life.

Today I turned my thoughts to my disbelief and anger over what occurred Monday at Virginia Tech. We were all shocked as news began to circulate that a gunman – in two separate shootings – killed 32 students and professors and then later himself, leaving 33 dead in all. The gunman was identified Tuesday as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student originally from South Korea. Many at Virginia Tech described Cho as a “loner.”

Let’s Hold Off the Blame Game at Virginia Tech

Apr 18, 2007 · Shannon Blosser

This week, all such policy discussions take a back seat to the briefness of life.

Rate increase proposed for community colleges

Apr 13, 2007 · Shannon Blosser

RALEIGH – Members of the joint House-Senate appropriations committee Thursday proposed a 5 percent increase in community college tuition to help fund additional programs within the system.

If approved, the rate increase would be the first since 2005. It would provide $6 million of additional revenue.

The tuition hike was included in the spending report of the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education. It includes what areas the joint committee intends to fund and how much. Now, the committee will split to work on appropriation matters in their separate chambers. House members are expected to release a budget document by May.

The Higher Ed Completion Hobgoblin

Apr 12, 2007 · George Leef

There is a cottage industry in the U.S. (located mostly in Washington, DC, but with satellite plants scattered around the country) that produces hand-wringing policy reports saying that America faces a crisis unless it finds a way to put more students into and through college. (Here are two recent examples: “The Waning of America’s Higher Education Advantage” published last June by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley, and “American Higher Education: How Does it Measure Up for the 21st Century?”) H. L. Mencken once wrote that politics is a game of menacing the people with “an endless series of hobgoblins” to keep them clamoring for governmental officials to make them safe. This business of scaring people into thinking that we’ve got to get more students through college fits that description perfectly.

The most recent addition to this genre is a paper released March 7 entitled “Hitting Home: An Analysis of the Cost, Access and Quality Challenges Confronting Higher Education Today” published by the group Making Opportunity Affordable. The paper’s big point is that the U.S. suffers from a “degree gap” that threatens our economic future. In the words of the author, “In fact, the size of this gap – the difference between degrees produced in the United States and those produced by nations who are among our top competitors – could reach almost 16 million degrees by 2025….” To close this supposedly dangerous gap, the paper advocates government action to get far more young Americans into and through college – thus “producing” the degrees that will enable us to keep right up with those competitors.

Commission Turns Thumbs Down on “UNC-Rocky Mount” Proposal

Apr 5, 2007 · Shannon Blosser

Last week, a study commission examining the feasibility of bringing North Carolina Wesleyan College into the University of North Carolina system released its findings and recommendations.

The study commission was created through legislation backed by legislators from eastern North Carolina last year. Political and business leaders from Rocky Mount had hoped that adding North Carolina Wesleyan into the UNC system would give a large boost to the region’s economy, described by one supporter as like a “Third World country.” While acknowledging the economic concerns, the report made it clear that UNC had to look at what was best for the entire state not just that particular region.

Missing the Mark in Higher Education

Mar 29, 2007 · Jeff Martineau

The old saying, “be careful what you wish for,” is especially apt when it comes to public policy, whose consequences seldom reflect intentions. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Education may be about to prove this adage true once again.