The Pernicious Effects of Grade Inflation
Higher education is suffering from many woes, and the federal government (and sometimes Donald Trump in particular) often gets much of the blame for them. But one factor that, in…
Articles by Richard K. Vedder
How Will AI Impact Higher Ed?
Virtually every observer of American higher education agrees that it is in trouble, and most think the short to midterm future for universities is pretty bleak. Most emphasize growing disenchantment…
Approaching Academic Armageddon
Over a mere two days recently (May 14-15), the major daily news outlets serving higher education, Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education, reported the following: Data collected…
Why Do Colleges Make People Unhappy?
My friend James Creigh recently alerted me to a new study showing that relatively young (18-to-40-year-old) American women who consider themselves “liberal” are more than twice as likely to be…
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…
The Bell Tolls for Higher Ed
Writing four centuries ago, John Donne memorably opined, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” He…
Introduce More Market Incentives into Higher Education
When most decisions regarding the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services are made by private individuals or businesses operating in a market environment, society tends to be prosperous,…
Divesting from Israel Is Not Just Wrong but Stupid
Clearly, the most newsworthy story in American collegiate life recently has been the widespread eruption of pro-Palestinian protests over the war between Israel and Hamas. A central demand of pro-Palestinian…
The Collegiate War Against Merit
A story in Inside Higher Ed last week revealed that two more Ivy League schools, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, have stopped publishing “dean’s lists” that recognize high levels…
The Real World Confronts the Ivory Tower
For years, there has been an ever-widening gap between the values and behaviors of contemporary America (“the Real World”) and those on college campuses (“the Ivory Tower”). Since, ultimately, the…