This article presents a new model of education that works with employers to help their employees gain the skills and credentials needed for promotions and career mobility. Southern New Hampshire University's College for America, a competency-based education model for working adults, increases their access to, and the convenience of higher…

To remain internationally competitive, states needed clearer, higher, and comparable K-12 learning standards aligned with college and career expectations, and as ambitious as those of the countries that lead the world in education. Idaho's old academic standards were not preparing students for postsecondary education, which contributed to the…

Developmental mathematics is one of the most serious barriers to educational and economic achievement. Over 60 percent of all students entering community colleges in the United States are required to complete remedial/developmental courses as a first step towards earning associate's or bachelor's degrees. Then, to earn a degree,…

Fewer than half of all Americans will be financially ready to retire at age 65, according to a recent Boston College study. Two coinciding needs, purpose and a paycheck, are driving a huge surge of interest in meaningful "encore careers"--paid second acts in areas such as education, human services, the environment, and fighting poverty.…

In his 2008 bestseller, "The Post-American World," Fareed Zakaria argued that the most significant development of the early 21st century is not, as others have predicted, the inevitable decline of the United States as the world's super-power but rather "the rise of the rest." In subsequent works, Zakaria and many others, including leading…

Educating college students to navigate the complexities of contemporary adult life is an increasingly complex task. Many entering collegians come from highly structured and protective environments and are socialized to depend on authorities for guidance. In a few short years, the college experience must help them learn to take personal…

In the last 30 years, teaching centers in American colleges and universities have moved from the margins of their institutions to the mainstream. Their roles have expanded exponentially: To their core task of providing instructional support for individuals, they have added cross-campus initiatives to promote pedagogical innovation, curriculum…

In its 10th anniversary issue, "The Chronicle Review" asked a number of scholars to identify the "Defining Idea of the Next Decade." One nominee: the movement to abandon the disciplines in order "to meet the scholarly and public challenges educators face" (Ecklund, 2010). In Elaine Ecklund's perspective, it is only through interdisciplinary…

The nation's next President will face a host of challenges, among them the economy, health care, an aging population, energy, the environment, and security at home and aboard. In this open letter, the leaders of higher education coordinating and governing boards across the country urge the 2012 presidential candidates to make improving the…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program is a major research and development effort to improve K-12 student achievement in mathematics and science. The substantial engagement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplinary faculty with school-teachers is a hallmark of the MSP…

How can a degree program, general education program, or other course of study make substantial, widely appreciated improvements in who learns, what they learn, and how well they learn it? Under the right circumstances, such improvements are possible. This article presents suggestions, some counter-intuitive, that increase the chances of their…

With "greening" projects dotting the landscape of higher education across the nation, it is encouraging to witness the commitment of many colleges and universities to helping secure the future environmental viability of the nation. The challenges that come with this commitment, however, are not insignificant. A comprehensive university-wide…

In the long term, there is little doubt that US higher education will remain extremely attractive to foreign talent, due to the academic quality of a large number of its research universities; the legacy of a relatively open society for immigrants; and America's still strong, if slightly tarnished, reputation as a land of opportunity. However, a…

Over the years and almost unnoticed, the Norwegian University of Technology (NTNU) had transformed Trondheim, a city 500 kilometers from the Arctic Circle, into Norway's technological capital. As such, high-tech companies like Google, Yahoo, and FAST chose to establish their Norwegian research and development (R&D) base in this far-away part of…

Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count is a national initiative dedicated to the premise that community colleges should be as successful at student retention and graduation, particularly for students of color and low-income, as they are at enrollment. On campus, the initiative is focused on creating a culture of evidence, one in which data…