21st Century College Admissions: Bidding for Brains
Going through the college process makes no sense. First, kids guess where they might want to go, then pay to apply, wait to hear, and, if accepted, fill out financial…
Graphic Novels Are Trending in English Departments, and That’s a Problem
Many English departments are now beginning to offer courses on graphic novels, which integrate text and visual imagery. Graphic novels are increasingly studied alongside traditional literature, in some cases supplanting…
Court Ruling in the McAdams Case: A Body Blow to Free Speech and Tenure
The Martin Center has been covering the Kafkaesque case of Marquette University professor John McAdams since it first broke several years ago. Professor Howard Kainz first wrote about it in…
Tribal Politics Is Turning Us Against Each Other—and Science
If you’ve spent much time on a college campus you’ve probably heard the claim that conservatives are anti-science. If you’re a liberal who doesn’t interact with many conservatives, you might…
North Carolina’s Apprenticeship Program Offers Big Potential at Small Cost
Recently, a bill was introduced in the North Carolina legislature that would shift control of the state’s apprenticeship program from the department of commerce to the community college system. The…
Why the Woman Appointed to a Top Education Department Post Is Under Fire
During Barack Obama’s administration, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights was staffed with “progressives” who were intent on pushing federal policy in ways that advanced their visions of what…
Free Speech Is More Threatened Than Ever and We Must Respond
Many readers probably have read about the New Wave of free speech suppression that has swept across campuses in the last several years. It comes on the heels of the…
Attaching Strings to “Free” College Education Makes No Sense
Recently, several states have adopted policies that ostensibly make college education free to their residents, but with strings attached to this benefit. The most famous program is undoubtedly New York’s.…
Let’s Not Throw the Dual Enrollment Baby Out with the Bathwater
Dual enrollment programs, which allow high school students to take college courses for college credit, have been getting some bad publicity lately. In 2013, the popular college watchdog site Minding…
NC Joins Growing List of States Seeking to Protect Campus Free Speech
Student intolerance and opposition to free speech have been gaining momentum. What began as isolated incidents at the University of Missouri and Yale University in fall 2015 quickly spread to…