Author Profile

Jay Schalin

Jay Schalin joined the Martin Center in August 2007. A Philadelphia native, he began his writing career as a freelance journalist for the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey and wrote for several other papers in New Jersey and Delaware. Schalin has a B.S. in computer science from Richard Stockton College in New Jersey and an M.A. in economics from the University of Delaware.

His articles have appeared in Forbes, the Washington Times, Fox News Online, U.S. News and World Report, Investor's Business Daily, Human Events, and American Thinker. His op-eds have been published by the McClatchy News Service and the Raleigh News & Observer. He has been interviewed on ESPN, National Public Radio, and UNC-TV, and his work has been featured on ABC News and Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor.

Schalin is a member of the National Association of Scholars and is on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Philosophy and Letters.

Articles by Jay Schalin

Are Community Colleges the Unsung Heroes of American Education?

Jun 1, 2015 ·

Few people know the challenges faced by community colleges as well as Scott Ralls. For the last seven years, he has been president of the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), the nation’s third largest community college system. He will soon leave for a new challenge: he will become the president of North Virginia Community College—the nation’s 11th largest college. Jay Schalin of the Pope Center had a long talk with him about the role of community colleges, about how the NCCCS has dealt with a variety of issues, and where the NCCCS stands today.

Two conflicting visions of higher education, Part II

Apr 22, 2015 ·

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.

Saving academia from itself

Jan 28, 2015 ·

Today’s new independent academic centers were conceived to solve a real and difficult modern problem—how to counter academia’s gradual purging of a vast array of ideas and knowledge that are still very much alive and central to the nation’s intellectual and political dialogues.

Renewal in the University

Jan 7, 2015 ·

A major change is occurring on university campuses: the creation of privately funded centers and institutes that preserve the traditional knowledge and perspectives that were once at the heart of the university. This paper by Jay Schalin discusses the surge of such programs across the country.

Faculty Teaching Loads in the UNC System

Aug 1, 2014 ·

This paper by Jay Schalin, the Pope Center’s director of policy analysis, explores the teaching loads of faculty in the University of North Carolina system. It finds that the university overstates the actual teaching duties of professors and recommends that the UNC Board of Governors conduct a comprehensive study of faculty workloads.

General Education at NC State

May 12, 2014 ·

In the Pope Center’s latest report, Jay Schalin, director of policy analysis, says that North Carolina State University’s general education program is “deeply flawed” because students can select from courses that are “too narrow,” “trivial,” and often “inspired by political correctness.”