How Our Higher-Education System Could Put Students First
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…
Articles
Articles
Administrators Have Seized the Ivory Tower
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…
Yes, an Academic Free-Speech Conference Needed Protection from the Mob
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…
Happy Thanksgiving!
Why the Left Relies on Statistical Illiteracy
In September 2022, three researchers published the provocatively titled article, “Do Introductory Courses Disproportionately Drive Minoritized Students Out of STEM Pathways?” That article got loads of social media publicity for…
Don’t Hide the Discount Rate
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…
“Dollars on demand” policies must end
If you borrow money you have to pay it back. Terence, this is stupidly silly and obviously true stuff. The fact that a bunch of overgrown children, who have no…
The Navy’s DEI efforts are a much needed course correction
To the editor: A recent article titled “The United States Naval Academy is Adrift” by Mr. J. A. Cauthen, a fellow alumni and former history teacher, decried the “Wokeness” of…
I Judged Student-Loan Borrowers … Until I Became One
Student loans have been at the forefront of higher-education policy discussions for quite some time. The recent actions taken by the Biden Administration on student-loan forgiveness have made the issue…
Everyone Hates Remedial Classes
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.…