The Vision Thing
The 2008 financial crisis, which still lingers in the higher education community, should not have been a surprise. Higher education has a financial cycle—trough, recovery, peak and decline—that mirrors the business cycle. Neither corporate nor university executives can predict with any certainty when the next downturn will occur, but institutional leaders could have prepared their institutions by containing their ambitions, creating safeguards, and developing contingency plans.
My heretical view is that mainstream public and private not-for-profit higher education boards of trustees have neither the will nor the incentive to control their institutions’ costs. The pursuit and maintenance of prestige are more valued than fiscal responsibility.
Thinking Like an Economist
A new book subjects college education to Bastiat’s famous “seen versus unseen” analysis.
Staying Civilized Amidst Campus Barbarians
A college student offers some advice on keeping to the high road when others partake of the low life.
The Sad History of Freshman Reading
Freshman readings range from political propaganda to feel-good fluff.
The Handwriting on the Web
Those who decry the lack of innovation in higher education may be looking in the wrong places.
Leading Legislators Astray
A policy report about higher education by a leading think tank gives state legislators misleading information.
Series: Summer Reading
Here is a list of Pope Center articles about summer reading programs at North Carolina colleges.
Affirmative Action Keeps Some Students Out
Selective colleges and universities turn away highly qualified Asian students so they can have more “diversity.”
Grifter U.
Higher education’s increasing reliance on government money is attracting innovation and creativity–of the worst type.
A Free-Market College That Means Business
Northwood University espouses the philosophy of free markets and expects students to understand how they work.