Reforms We’re Cheering For in 2026
Every December, the staff of the Martin Center share our higher-ed-reform dreams for the coming 12 months. Some are obvious; others are fanciful. We offer them all here in a…
Do Data Dashboards Truly Illuminate?
In 2010, when I first entered the institutional-research field, the most common request from academic departments was a simple, almost humble “I need data.” A decade later, that request had…
Measure Microcredential Outcomes
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), one of the nation’s largest institutional accreditors with more than 1,000 member organizations, recently announced a new endorsement application for short-term-credential providers, including microcredential organizations.…
Putting the Progressive University in the Dock
Conservatives interested in higher-education reform often ask themselves where things went wrong. Answers usually range from the radicalism of the 1960s to the rise of social media or the triumph…
In Praise of the Commission for Public Higher Education
Complaints about the Commission for Public Higher Education’s (CPHE) proposed solutions to accreditation problems are unwarranted. This October, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article titled “Will the Commission…
“Lifestyle” Calculators Are the Coming Thing
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 mandates that all colleges accepting federal student loans post a net-price tuition calculator on their website. Yet recent years have seen the introduction…
Peer Review Is Broken. Here’s How to Fix It.
Within academia, there seems to be a growing consensus that the peer-review system—once the backbone of academic scholarship—is broken. But is it irreparably so? Perhaps. At the very least, the…
The UNC System’s AI Labyrinth
Much like the arrival of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, the introduction of AI into the culture has been met with fear, excitement, and a rush to keep…
In a World of Screens, Colleges Need More Green
Colleges are meant to foster learning, creativity, and discovery, but that doesn’t happen only in the classroom. A recent U.S. News & World Report article highlighted research showing that campus…
Oklahoma’s Teacher Test: Right Problem, Wrong Answer
This summer, Oklahoma’s then-superintendent Ryan Walters announced a new test for would-be teachers from New York and California, promising that it would keep out “woke indoctrinators” from those states (and…