Reading the N.C. Higher-Ed Budget
On April 3, the North Carolina House approved a proposed biennial budget, House Bill 259, which the Senate is now considering. The plan provides generous raises for state employees while…
Higher Education and the Law of Diminishing Returns, Part II
Recently, I argued in a Martin Center article that the fourth year of study for the bachelor’s degree is probably relatively unproductive and that enormous resources could be saved by…
Accreditation Reform Is Alive in North Carolina
On April 10, three N.C. senators filed a bill to reform college and university accreditation in North Carolina. Though the bill was recently pulled from this week’s legislative calendar, its…
Will UNC Libraries Toss Their Books?
If you’re of a certain vintage you might recall diminutive octogenarian Clara Peller barking the signature line on a Wendy’s commercial: “Where’s the beef?” And if you are in that…
Not All Degrees Are Meant to Be Online
Last year, I wrote an article for the Martin Center about a new university in North Carolina. This institution, Queens College of Theology, was operating under a religious exemption that…
Actually, Let’s Not Disaggregate More Educational Data By Race
Writing for the Martin Center in January about universities’ flawed attempts to practice social engineering, I criticized in passing the American habit of breaking down nearly all official data by…
What N.C.’s “REACH” Act Gets Right
UNC students aren’t getting a solid foundation in civics. UNC-Chapel Hill, for example, does not require its students to take a course in American government. It does, however, require them…
Are Microcredentials More Than the Next Higher-Ed Fad?
How do you spot a hot trend in higher education? Hint: Headlines in industry outlets simultaneously insist that everyone wants it, no one is sure what it is, and nobody…
ChatGPT Is Everywhere. What Are Colleges Doing About It?
ChatGPT has become a hot topic at pretty much every university in the nation. When staff at Montclair State University asked ChatGPT to define its function, it responded that “GPT…
Treat Student-Loan Borrowing Like Medicare
I recently turned 65 and became eligible for Medicare. Like other medical insurance, Medicare requires providers who accept reimbursement to agree to a set rate for the services they provide.…