Higher Education

Why not eliminate the state higher education commission to save money? One South Carolina legislator has a plan to do just that for his state. According to an article in the Charleston Post and Courier, Rep. Jim Merrill: Said the [South Carolina Commission on Higher Education] no longer does what it was intended to do: […]

Sometimes college doesn’t pay. At least it doesn’t pay very well. While the Community College Times glowingly reported yesterday that “completing an associate’s degree was worth $41,962 more than the cost of tuition, fees and forgone wages while in college,” it appears that for many people, even with a bachelor’s degree, finding a job is […]

Community colleges have a lot of work ahead of them if they’re going to create 5 million new graduates, as President Obama plans. According to an article in Diverse Issues in Higher Education: States’ higher education systems must dramatically overhaul themselves if they intend to fulfill President Obama’s goal of remaking America home to the […]

This is all getting very strange. Apparently Yale University, the 300-year-old school that is already one of the most selective colleges in the United States of America, needs more applicants. And not just normal applicants. Oh no, it’s not enough that the school’s alumni already include luminaries as diverse as Harold Bloom, William F. Buckley, […]

To celebrate Martin Luther King Day yesterday people affiliated with Mississippi’s three public historically black universities, Alcorn State University, Jackson State University, and Mississippi Valley State University, marched to observe their schools. Or, rather, they marched to protest the governor’s plan to combine Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State in order to save money. […]

Iowa’s community colleges are facing new challenges as more citizens seek classes community colleges provide. According to an article in the Sioux City Journal: “We’re growing like a weed,” said Steve Ovel of the Iowa Association of Community College Presidents and Trustees. “There are a lot of pressure points.” Comparing Iowa’s community colleges to an […]

States are sustaining higher education less than they used to, according to an article in Inside Higher Ed: Total state support for higher education for 2009-10 — including federal stimulus dollars — is $79.4 billion, which is a decline of 1.1 percent from the prior year and 1.7 percent from the year before that. This […]

Tuition freezes at American colleges have long been appealing, particularly in times of economic trouble. But an article in Inside Higher Ed indicates that they might not really work: Tuition freezes have long had political appeal, and a plan to halt hikes for a second consecutive year in Missouri has been met with predictable applause […]

While Colorado is considering ending longstanding policy providing free education for American Indians studying at Fort Lewis College, things are moving in the opposite direction elsewhere in the American Southwest. From the Salt Lake City Deseret News comes news that first-generation students: Provided they meet specific eligibility requirements, will be able to attend Weber State […]

Colleges may be cutting financial aid, services, and even courses, but apparently the salaries of college presidents continue to increase. According to an article in the New York Times: The median [pay of college presidents] rose to $436,111 in 2008-9, an increase of 2.3 percent when compared with the year before. (When adjusted for inflation… […]