Imagine a college student who has just formed a student group. In order to generate interest in this group, the student goes to the student union and passes out flyers … Continue reading “NC State Continues to Defend Unconstitutional Policy”
In 2013, North Carolina stopped giving automatic pay raises to public school teachers who earn master’s degrees. In the legislature, the debate focused on teachers and whether graduate degrees make … Continue reading “Automatic Pay Raises for Teachers Create Perverse Incentives in Graduate Education”
When the Supreme Court agreed to hear Abigail Fisher’s challenge to the University of Texas’s admissions program a second time, it seemed that the writing was on the wall. Why … Continue reading “Fisher Decision a Disappointment, But Won’t Stop Campaign Against Racial Preferences”
The North Carolina General Assembly’s recently released budget for 2016-17 increases University of North Carolina System appropriations by $168 million, $31 million of which will be dedicated to fund projected … Continue reading “NC’s Latest Higher Ed Budget: More Spending, Less Saving”
Hyper-aggressive federal officials have taken the vague language in Title IX of the 1972 Education Act Amendments and treated it as if it gave them plenary authority to control anything … Continue reading “Two Key Lawsuits Lead Counterattack Against Title IX Overreach”
Whether or not you agree that a college degree is primarily worth its increase in potential earning power, students overwhelmingly rate the economic benefits of a degree as the top … Continue reading “Will New Transparency Measures Help North Carolina Students?”
The May 6 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education contains two illuminating and rather unexpected articles: “Should Everyone Go to College?” by Scott Carlson and “When Everyone Goes to College: a Lesson from South Korea” by Karin Fischer. What makes these pieces so interesting is that they say clearly what so many in the higher education community have long been at pains to deny, namely that a country can go overboard on higher education.
Bills filed in the North Carolina General Assembly would provide student loan debt relief to “public interest” attorneys and to K-12 teachers. Both proposals are ill-advised. Rather than erase debt for those in politically connected groups, lawmakers should work to address the root causes of skyrocketing college costs, which are borne by all North Carolina students through the tuition and fees they pay each semester. Of course, state taxpayers also cover those costs, with roughly $2.6 billion allotted annually to the University of North Carolina System.
Although the bills currently under consideration are unlikely to pass in the immediate future, evaluating them reveals the current areas of federal interest in higher education. These categories can be broadly defined as student aid and access, controlling costs, and political interest.
What is needed is for students and parents to realize that swallowing the education that’s given to them isn’t the best way. They’ll have to change things from the bottom by seeking out schools and online programs where student progress comes first.