Anti-Trust in Scientific Journals
Scientific journals emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries as the principal way in which scientists and the public shared scientific ideas and discoveries. Journals met the need for dissemination…
Articles
Articles
Free Speech, Tar Heel Style
In an era where intellectual discourse faces unprecedented challenges, 23 states have taken decisive action to protect free speech on college campuses. Yet their efforts raise an important question: Why…
College Board Goes to Trade School
Two outstanding situations sometimes warrant government intervention in the marketplace. First, “natural monopoly” providers, such as public utilities, would charge all the market could bear without government regulation. Second, unprofitable…
Policy Brief: From Empty Classrooms to Efficient Campuses
Executive Summary Colleges and universities across the country are burdened with inefficiently utilized facilities, leading to unnecessary costs, wasted space, and misplaced financial priorities. This policy brief, authored by economist…
Are Microcredentials Worth the Cost?
In recent years, short-term credentials (also known as “microcredentials” or “postsecondary programs and certificates … which generally take one year or less to earn”) have gained traction among students wishing…
The End of the DEI Era
The University of Michigan’s recent about-face on DEI is both encouraging and instructive. Yes, even high-profile institutions with long records of supporting racial favoritism and radical ideological movements can show…
AI Meets Civil Discourse
As universities across the U.S. seek to deal with protests, polarization, and the presidential election, many have focused on how to foster civil-discourse skills in students. As this tweet (below)…
Accreditation-Reform Hopes for the Second Trump Administration
Higher education seemingly played an important if largely negative role in the recent presidential election. Exit polls showed that non-college-educated voters overwhelmingly favored Donald Trump. Many voters associated Kamala Harris…
Clarification on accreditation
I wholeheartedly agree with Scott Yenor’s timely observation that “accreditors are political actors” (The Politics of Higher-Education Accreditation: Accreditors are Political Actors), but I want to clarify some of his…
Assessing Trump’s Higher-Ed Orders
These are bad times to be a recalcitrant Trump-hating college administrator. In his first nine-and-a-half days in office, the 47th president has signed numerous executive orders with the potential to…