Lately there has been a great deal of discussion about the importance of measuring a college's "return on investment." Is the point of a college education quantifiable results or personal and intellectual growth? In pursuit of answers, "The Chronicle" asked a selection of higher-education leaders. Phyllis M. Wise, Chancellor of the University of…

Some students at University of Florida can take classes only during the spring and summer semesters for as long as they are enrolled. Each year they will get a four-month break--the fall semester--when they can take online courses, study abroad, or do internships. Some may opt to work. Despite their schedules, the students are full-fledged…

In late December, a set of articles and essays in "The New York Times" focused on the public library as a place, and on the changing meaning of that place with the rise of electronic books and the demise of brick-and-mortar bookstores like Borders. As librarians "struggle with the task of redefining their roles and responsibilities in a digital…

Many colleges have put off repairs and renovation since the recession. Now crumbling buildings, limited budgets, and mounting debt present an increasingly intractable problem. Sightlines, a consulting company that tracks and analyzes facilities issues at more than 300 colleges, shared some of its latest findings with "The Chronicle". The data…

Since 2008, Italian universities have seen their budgets slashed by 14 percent. And in late 2010 the Italian government passed a law that drastically reduced the number of contract university workers, effectively laying off thousands of postdocs, assistants, researchers, and lecturers. The law also included a planned decrease in the number of…

This article features Antioch College, an old campus with a new future. With no tuition, no accreditation, and a mostly empty campus, the college is making a slow and careful start. Reopening a college that had been shuttered for three years certainly qualifies--especially a college with a rich history that, at this point, is equal parts blessing…

The author discusses the results of an annual "Voluntary Support of Education" survey by the Council for Aid to Education. According to the report, after two lackluster years, donations to U.S. colleges and universities rose last year by a healthy 8.2 percent, to an estimated $30.3-billion. The total raised comes close to the amount seen in 2008,…

The Supreme Court's members generally are too decorous to exclaim "I told you so." But U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy stands perched on the edge of an I-told-you-so moment, thanks to the court's decision to take up a challenge to a race-conscious college-admission policy that poses some of the same questions he had accused fellow…

In this article, the author makes an unpopular argument that involves the necessity for college counselors and psychologists to work harder with a high-risk group of students. He argues that an ideal, successful, well-functioning college counseling center must serve a wide range of clients. He wants to push back on the latest trend in the…

The author introduces a new program that brings city kids who really need college to a private rural campus that really needs kids. Under the program, called Pipelines Into Partnership, a handful of urban high schools and community organizations--the groups that know their kids beyond the black and white of their transcripts--determine which…

Colleges have spent years trying to make their campuses as sustainable as possible, in part to mitigate the effects of global warming. But few of them have strategies to adapt to those effects as they happen. This summer, the most widespread drought in decades, coupled with extensive wildfires and hurricanes, has some administrators thinking about…

Hunger on campus is part of a lingering national problem that grew after the financial crisis that began in late 2007. In an unforgiving economy, many students across the country struggle not only to pay tuition but also to buy food. Colleges and nonprofit groups have noticed, and more are reacting. Food pantries are cropping up on two-year and…

Endowment growth in 2011 came in no small part because universities have increasingly invested in private equity--the same private equity that has become a hot-button issue on the 2012 campaign trail, with some candidates and commentators calling into question its social value. Private equity is "of increasing significance" for endowments. It made…

Remedial courses meant to get underprepared students ready for college-level work are often not an on-ramp but a dead end, leaders of four national higher-education groups said, recommending sweeping changes in how such students are brought up to speed. Students required to take a sequence of remedial, or developmental, courses before they can…

The author reports on the reigning economic calculus that helps to drive constant expansion and poor utilization of space on many campuses. The author states that colleges could charge for utilities, which might encourage departments to save energy. Most American colleges do not charge for space--in part because doing so would raise the hackles of…