The “Underpants Gnomes” Theory of Higher-Ed Funding
Step 1: Spend more on universities. Step 2: Get more graduates. Step 3: Statewide prosperity! Sounds pretty simple and straightforward, right? (At least for fans of the very NSFW program…
Improving Higher Ed Through Better Open-Records Laws
It is no secret that American higher education is in crisis due to a lack of affordability, growing irrelevance, and the ideological conformity that prevails in today’s classrooms. Less well-known…
Political Accountability Versus Campus Autonomy
A pronounced distrust has developed between many state legislatures and their public campuses. There has been a general decline in public confidence in higher education, and that loss has been…
Even Liberals Should Be Skeptical of Racial Preferences in Higher Education
In most public discussions, “affirmative action” in higher education is treated as one of the core issues that divides liberals from conservatives. It is rare in public life to hear…
A Partial Shout-Down at UNC-Chapel Hill
Until recently, it was a point of pride that there hadn’t been any speaker “shout-downs” at UNC-Chapel Hill since 2009. But that changed on Tuesday when student protestors repeatedly interrupted…
Colleges: Go Back to Basics
Colleges perform two vital functions: They disseminate to the people (especially their own students) the knowledge and wisdom acquired through time in ways that enhance the common good, and they also…
No, Colleges are Not Unsafe
In 1986, Lehigh University freshman Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered in her on-campus dormitory. This terrible event led to the passage of the Clery Act (1990), which requires American…
Don’t Smother Income Share Agreements in their Crib
In August, the Biden administration, utilizing the HEROES Act of 2003, canceled $10,000 of student-loan debt for most students and $20,000 for those who previously received federal Pell Grants. Not…
No Tenure? No Problem
The concept of tenure is a contested one, to be sure. For some, it is a mere faculty entitlement, guaranteeing employment and further insulating professors from the practical realities of…
“Updated Mission Statements, Comrade!”
University mission statements are the cell phone user contracts of higher-ed prose. Committee-generated and loved by none, they sit awkwardly on webpages and internal reports, awaiting readers to justify their…