Advanced No More
The Advanced Placement program has made the College Board one of the most economically dominant and pedagogically powerful organizations in American education, at least for now. Since 2023, the company…
Articles
Articles
“Buyout” Madness
Last October, after Louisiana State University’s football team lost 49-25 at home to Texas A&M, head coach Brian Kelly was unceremoniously fired. Kelly had been hired from Notre Dame at…
Less Than Words Can Say
If you saw the 2004 Pixar hit The Incredibles, you might remember that Mr. Incredible, a.k.a. Bob, captures in one line the reason our schools are failing. Resisting his wife’s…
UNC Tuition Has Already Tripled
Last month, members of the UNC System Board of Governors’ Committee on Budget and Finance discussed proposed tuition increases, including increases for in-state undergraduates. This is the first time in…
Where Are All the Men?
The majority of students sitting in college classrooms today are female. Decades-long efforts to increase female representation in academia appear to have worked—perhaps too well. Women carry two-thirds of all…
Should Community Colleges Offer Four-Year Degrees?
More junior colleges are offering four-year bachelor’s degrees in addition to two-year associate’s degrees, and traditional universities hate the competition. But while students and policymakers should welcome new options, junior…
State Law Must Supersede Accreditor Requirements
Members of the North Carolina General Assembly have spent years pursuing higher-education reform and reclaiming authority over the state’s university system. Legislators in other states have done likewise. Yet another…
Let’s Return to Teaching Students How to Argue
We hear all the time that America is hopelessly polarized, that the electronic landscape allows us to stay in our own hermetically-sealed communities, and that no one can speak with…
UW’s Budget Cuts Aren’t Enough
On January 13, 2026, the Wyoming Legislature’s most powerful body—the Joint Appropriations Committee—voted to cut and withhold nearly $61 million from the University of Wyoming’s recommended budget. News of the…
Is Sociology Salvageable?
Anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention to academic sociology these days knows there are serious problems. I have been writing about this phenomenon now for a number of…