American higher education is a stunning success, but mostly for the people who work in it. Faculty members and administrators enjoy employment that pays pretty well and is more secure … Continue reading “How Our Higher-Education System Could Put Students First”
The “ivory tower” has long been the lens through which American popular culture views higher education. The phrase conjures up images of seminar rooms and high-minded ideas debated at a … Continue reading “Administrators Have Seized the Ivory Tower”
Jumping to conclusions is sometimes a big mistake. I recently became puzzled and mildly infuriated when I read that Stanford University was going to have a conference on freedom of … Continue reading “Yes, an Academic Free-Speech Conference Needed Protection from the Mob”
Colleges’ tuition costs are easy enough to find, but not every student pays list price. Education experts agree that data about so-called discount rates could be an invaluable tool for … Continue reading “Don’t Hide the Discount Rate”
Remedial classes have been standard practice at community colleges since about the 1980s. The original intent of these not-for-credit courses was to protect underperforming students from failing actual college classes. … Continue reading “Everyone Hates Remedial Classes”
America, it would seem to some, is irredeemably racist, bigoted, and guided by hate. Those fighting against these pervasive evils have experienced a great “awokening” and are on a noble … Continue reading “The U.S. Naval Academy is Adrift”
Next week, the UNC Board of Governors will discuss whether to raise the cap on out-of-state students at five UNC institutions: East Carolina, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, and … Continue reading “Should the UNC System Raise the Cap on Out-of-State Students?”
What is diversity, and why is it so good for college students? That’s one of the questions at the heart of the Supreme Court cases over race-conscious admissions practices at … Continue reading “What’s So Great About Diversity, Anyway?”
One week ago today, attorneys for Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) laid out their cases against Harvard and the University of North Carolina before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices … Continue reading “What the Justices Heard and Said”
Many people believe that if a college or university is accredited, that’s the equivalent of a guarantee of quality. Just as the seal of approval from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) tells … Continue reading “Time to Rethink University Accreditation”