Bill Roundup: The Higher Ed Topics Prioritized by the North Carolina General Assembly
May 9 was the “crossover” deadline for bills in the North Carolina General Assembly. For a bill to have survived past that date, it must have either passed at least…
Forgiving Student Debt Isn’t the Solution to Anything
The time-honored American tradition of outlandish political promises continues apace. Now, the spotlight is on student debt. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren added to the debate recently when she put…
The High Price of Faculty and Administrative Salaries in the UNC System
Faculty pay can vary greatly across universities and even within the same university system. Among University of North Carolina schools, the type of institution can matter as much as a…
Improving Student Outcomes by Consolidating the University System of Georgia
As the cost of college creeps up and more small colleges close, consolidation has become a lifeline of last resort. To survive, dozens of small institutions have either merged or…
How Bad Is For-Profit Higher Education, Actually?
For about fifteen years, from 1995 to 2010, enrollments grew rapidly in the for-profit higher education sector, but since then have fallen substantially. The reason for the decline is mainly…
UNC System Schools Profiting Off Unused Student Meals
College meal plans can help students avoid buying groceries and cooking for themselves—but they can also cost thousands of dollars each semester. In the University of North Carolina system, some…
DC Wants to Further Subsidize Higher Education: Here’s Why That’s a Bad Idea
Congressional Democrats are reintroducing the Debt-Free College Act in an attempt to lower costs and increase federal intervention in higher education. This debt-free proposal would require the federal government to…
March Madness Means Skyhigh Athletics Spending
As March Madness hits and the public’s attention is on college basketball’s NCAA Tournament, few spectators know just how much the public subsidizes college sports. Within the University of North…
Universities Should Invest in Their Students, Not Securities
Nearly all American institutions of higher education raise money they put into endowments—money that is kept invested in securities. At the same time, many of their students borrow money from…
NC Promise’s Costs and Benefits: An Early Analysis
Concerned about the high cost of college, the University of North Carolina system is testing a low-tuition model at some schools to drive up enrollments. Though the experiment only started…