College and university lawyers must be prepared to address legal matters that range from the kinds one might expect to those that are unanticipated, even unbelievable. It's all in a day's work--and there's no such thing as a typical day in the life of a higher education attorney. The complex legal and regulatory issues facing…

With the cost of higher education steadily increasing, many people are wondering what, if anything, students are learning on college campuses. In this environment, colleges are facing pressure to make information about what their students learn available to a range of stakeholders, including students and their parents, policymakers, and the…

In this article the authors argue that states need a new way to oversee the delivery of postsecondary distance education across state borders. They assert that the current process is too spotty to assure consistent consumer protection and too cumbersome and expensive for institutions. Because education is not specified in the US Constitution as a…

This article describes the Program on the Theological Exploration of Vocation (PTEV), a unique experiment in undergraduate education. This project challenged a group of 88 colleges and universities affiliated with a variety of Christian denominations, from Orthodox and Roman Catholic to Evangelical Protestant and Quaker, to think anew about what…

For many years, higher education institutions have been harvesting the low-hanging fruit when it comes to budget reductions and adjustments. Easier changes have often been made--such as cutting administration, using more adjunct faculty, contracting out inefficient or non effective auxiliary operations and so forth. Until recently such strategies,…

One strength of liberal arts and sciences colleges is their emphasis on so-called "high-impact practices" (HIPs), which are known to be associated with student success. These practices include first-year seminars, learning communities, and study abroad, among others. What all of these HIPs share is a deeper level of engagement and active…

The question of whether guns should be permitted on college and university campuses in the United States reflects the tension between two competing perspectives. America has both a robust gun culture and an equally robust (if less well known) gun-control culture. The gun culture is as American as apple pie: There may be as many as 300 million…

In November 2012, the US Department of Education published its first-ever "fully articulated international strategy." Its two strategic goals are to strengthen US education and advance the international priorities of the US through increasing the global competencies of students, learning from other countries, and engaging in education…

The civic mission of American colleges and universities has received renewed attention over the last decade. From the "engaged campus" designation now offered by the Carnegie Endowment for the Advancement of Teaching to the growth of Campus Compact (from 782 institutional members in 2000 to 1150 in 2012) to major institutional…

In the latter part of the 20th century, behavioral scientists and society generally adopted a cultural belief that cognitive ability was the most significant determinant of educational and workforce outcomes. This led to efforts to raise students' test scores, the promotion of teachers who were successful in doing so, and heavy if not…

Thirteen years ago, 276 bachelor's-granting colleges and universities inaugurated a new approach to assessing college quality by participating in the first national administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). This report summarizes what was learned over the NSSE's first 13 years, why the survey is being updated, and new…

For the last decade, the American Council on Education (ACE) has charted higher education's progress towards internationalization through its Mapping Internationalization on US Campuses project. Using surveys of US institutions conducted in 2001, 2006, and 2011, the Mapping study examines strategic planning, the curriculum, faculty policies and…

In the era of globalization, accountability, and benchmarking, university rankings have achieved a kind of iconic status. The major ones--the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, or the "Shanghai rankings"), the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds Limited) World University Rankings, and the "Times Higher Education" World University Rankings…

Underprepared students come to community colleges and many four-year colleges because they have hope for a better life and the courage to attempt something difficult. But having dreams and aspirations is not enough: Without some sort of intervention and support, a student's chances of completing college are poor. Many challenged students…

This article recounts the authors' experiences in being in a Posse and how it enriches the college experience and changes an individual's perspective and goals. The authors offer their stories on how the program has changed them.