Stanley Fish on the five schools of thought about academic freedom
When we speak about “academic freedom” what, exactly, do we mean? How far should academic freedom extend? How do we know when someone claiming it has actually abused it?
Articles by George Leef
Yes, students can get a good education at a big football school
Veteran Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews writes mostly about K-12 education, but he is also interested in the results for students after they’ve graduated and enrolled in college. He’s also a self-professed college football freak, looking forward to the first-ever playoff series for the national title.
We can thank the Supreme Court for credential inflation
Perhaps you have noticed that many jobs requiring only basic skills and a cooperative attitude are now walled off to Americans who don’t possess a college degree.
The mania for college credentials hampers upward mobility for individuals without a college degree. They are confined to the shrinking and mostly low-pay segment of the labor market where educational credentials still don’t matter. (As I argued here, that explains much of the earnings gap between workers with and without college degrees.)
The "gainful employment" rule won’t make students better off by decimating the for-profit sector
At the end of October, the Department of Education released its much-awaited "gainful employment" rule. It is supposed to fix (or at least lessen) the problem that many students who pursue vocational training with federal student aid money wind up without a job that pays well enough for them to cover their loans.
How did we get into the Student Loan Mess?
For all of the words devoted to our student loan mess (or "crisis" or "bubble"), little has been written on its origins. We know that student loan debt now exceeds $1 trillion and that many young Americans are struggling with a heavy burden, but how things got that way is largely a mystery.
Leisure studies: an academic field based on a utopian mistake?
With most academic fields, we know what they are about. Political science teaches about political systems and their workings; philosophy about how people have thought on questions such as ethics; literature courses have students read and contemplate worthwhile books.
Student course evaluations aren’t worth much, and there are better ways
The John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy has released its biennial report on the University of North Carolina system, “The State of the State University 2015: Critical Facts about the University of North Carolina System.”
Are college course syllabi really protected by copyright?
Are college course syllabi really protected by copyright?
American college graduates are largely adrift, but so are the schools they attended
American college graduates are largely adrift, but so are the schools they attended
Is the college diploma a sign of advanced skills or just a screening technique?
Is the college diploma a sign of advanced skills or just a screening technique?