Author Profile

Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson is a Raleigh native. He is a 2004 graduate of Raleigh's Enloe High School and a 2008 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He majored in Peace, War, & Defense, which didn't sound very useful at the time but turned out to be great preparation for working in higher education.

He previously worked for a Raleigh law firm, the Morehead-Cain Foundation, and the UNC General Administration. He now draws a paycheck from the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, but the views expressed here—and pretty much everywhere—are his own. He has been a frequent contributor to the opinion section of the Raleigh News & Observer and has also published in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Articles by Eric Johnson

Nov 9, 2022 · Eric Johnson

What’s So Great About Diversity, Anyway?

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…

Jul 11, 2022 · Eric Johnson

UNC’s Free-Expression Survey Elicits Both Fear and Hope

North Carolina’s public universities have a problem with free expression, and it mostly doesn’t come from censorious administrators or biased faculty members. Instead, it’s the students themselves who muzzle free…

Oct 2, 2015 · Eric Johnson

Free College for All Is Not the Best Way to Expand Access

“Free college” makes for a neat sound-bite in Democratic primaries. But turning higher education into another middle-class entitlement isn’t going to improve outcomes, isn’t going to promote economic mobility, and isn’t going to encourage the kind of structural reforms that are long overdue.

Jun 3, 2015 · Eric Johnson

Conflicting Visions, Part I: Will Producing More Degree Holders Benefit Society?

We ought to send more people to college. Our country is rich enough, our lives are long enough, and our economy is productive enough to justify the costs of providing more opportunity for our citizens to think and read and learn a little longer.

Apr 22, 2015 · Eric Johnson

Two conflicting visions of higher education, Part I

Higher education policy must begin with a vision and a sense of purpose, without which it becomes an incoherent jumble that contradicts itself and pulls in conflicting directions. One problem facing academia today is that it has long been largely subject to one vision, and now a very different, competing vision is emerging that seeks grand reforms.