10 Books We Want Under the Tree in 2022
One of my favorite projects at the Martin Center is the cultivation of our higher-education library. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I vastly prefer to read books printed on paper instead…
Is UNC Playing Selectivity Games?
Enrollment declines have finally come to North Carolina. In the past decade, universities across the country began to see declining undergraduate enrollments, first in the Northeast and the Midwest, then…
The Strange Attack on Blind Reviewing
Two years ago, the Great Awokening came for blind auditions in America’s top orchestras. Any educational or cultural differences were insufficient explanations for the disparities between white and black players…
Mending, Not Ending, Remedial Classes
A high-school diploma should be a default signal that the holder is prepared to embark on her or his college journey. In an ideal world, a country that spends a…
Ideological Compulsion at the UNC School of Journalism
There are times when “I told you so” is unpleasant to say. This is one of those occasions. In May, the Martin Center reported on the appointment of a new…
Who’s to Blame When Students Fail a Course?
As long as college students are considered entitled customers, their complaints about their professors will be taken seriously by administrators. That’s because happy students boost college applications, affect the closely-watched…
Colleges Helped Cause the Enrollment Crash
There is considerable talk these days about the enrollment crash in higher education, especially in liberal-arts education. The Chronicle of Higher Education has been expressing worry about this crisis for…
The NCAA’s Own Goal
This coming January, the NCAA will convene in Texas to decide the future of standardized testing requirements for student-athletes. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA and universities…
An American Law School, Then and Now
50 years ago, I was a first-year student at the University of Texas School of Law. Then, it occupied about the same place in the hierarchy of American law schools…
Which Majors Do Students Most Regret, and Why?
Former students regretting the choices they made during college isn’t a new phenomenon. Perhaps they wish they’d attended a different school, taken out fewer student loans, or considered their school’s…