The Three-Year Degree Makes Sense
On 27 April, the University of North Carolina (UNC) System’s Board of Governors approved a pilot program to begin offering three-year, 90-credit degrees as early as fall 2027. The decision…
Learning to “Code”
It was once common to suggest people who lose their blue-collar jobs should “learn to code.” This is no longer very good advice, if it ever was, since coding is…
Lonely on Campus: Are Universities Failing Their Students?
A college campus should be one of the least lonely places in America. Students pack lecture halls, dormitories, dining halls, football games, and coffee shops every day. There are clubs,…
When Truth is No Longer Paramount
It is a running joke with my repeat students that “it depends” is the phrase most likely to set me off during a classroom discussion. Don’t get me wrong, I…
“Let People Be Free to Come Up with Ideas”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion have gotten a lot of attention over the past decade. In these pages, we’ve often lamented that universities’ focus on superficial measures of diversity undermines merit…
Making Room for More Ideas in Higher Education
Late last year, I had the honor of being nominated by Governor Kim Reynolds to serve on the advisory board of the newly created Center for Intellectual Freedom at the…
Harvard Tries Grade Deflation
This academic year, Harvard has endured a dark night of the soul, including (among other troubles) facing down the consequences of grade inflation and searching for curricular absolution. In a…
Degrees Still Matter—But They’re Not Enough
A recent poll shows employers still value college degrees, but they are worried about a skills gap between what they need and what candidates actually possess. Earlier this year, Lumina…
Alaska Needs a Law School
According to the American Bar Association, there are 198 accredited law schools in the United States. Alaska is the only state without one. The Last Frontier is the largest state…
In Praise of the 4-4 Load
My recent article “A Roadmap to Take Back Higher Education” got a mixed reaction from tradition-minded professors. They liked the general framework of the scale of the problem facing the…