Did You Know? The Higher Ed Bureaucracy Won the Pandemic
An ill wind has buffeted higher education in the year of the plague. Workers have been laid off, the ranks of the professoriate have shrunk, and enrollment declines across the…
Did You Know? Not All UNC Students Get the Same Funding
The University of North Carolina system includes 16 universities, from large campuses with high research activity to small liberal arts institutions. They differ in many ways, from location to student…
The Pandemic May Be Ending, But Student Anxiety Isn’t
Students have had to make many sacrifices over the past year, be they financial, academic, or personal. The sudden changes and conflicting campus policies have taken a significant toll on…
Did You Know? The Fight Over Campus Vaccine Mandates
As American higher ed prepares for the on-campus experience again, college leaders are encountering a problem: whether they can (or should) mandate the COVID-19 vaccine. The response varies by state…
Did You Know? College Enrollments Fall Again
Student enrollment dipped at the beginning of the pandemic, but the numbers went from bad to worse a year later. As Inside Higher Ed reported, spring undergraduate enrollment fell almost…
The Trouble with Faculty Hiring Booms in a Politicized Time
Most businesses and the general public had a brutal year in 2020—perhaps with the notable exceptions of Zoom and toilet paper manufacturers. Universities suffered as well, with enrollment drops and…
New Study Analyzes the High Cost of College
TANSTAAFL. There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. That’s the pithy way that economists convey the idea that there are always costs associated with the goods and services…
Did You Know? Where UNC System’s $10 Billion in Revenue Comes From
Everything that the UNC system and its constituent institutions do is dependent on a generous inflow of money. In fiscal year 2020, the UNC system received $10.2 billion in revenues,…
The Liberal Arts: What We Don’t Know
What is the value of a liberal arts education? At a time when parents are wary of taking on loads of debt to finance their children’s college degrees, it was…
A Conversation with UNC System President Peter Hans
A new leader took the helm of the University of North Carolina system during a tumultuous time. In the midst of a global pandemic, Peter Hans was elected UNC system…