As college costs have increased, and more federal and state aid has become merit-based, the doors of educational opportunity have closed for many students. Countless numbers are being denied access to college simply because they cannot afford it, undermining the fundamental policy object of the Higher Education Act of 1965. On Capitol Hill,…

University presses have complained for years that tenure committees unfairly expect their editors to be arbiters of what counts as tenure-worthy work. At the same time, the presses have been caught in a business-side squeeze between dwindling sales (and shrinking subsidies) and the ever-greater pressure on scholars to publish. In this article, the…

In this article, the author talks about his "educational prank" where six corporations "sponsored" his undergraduate course during the fall of 2006. He also contends that the "cutting workforce and extracting more labor for less compensation may increase the bottom line of corporations, but it's no way to run a university, for a number of…

Charles Carroll Jr. would be long forgotten but for a single notable accomplishment: he built an exceedingly handsome house. Begun in 1801 with money from his wealthy father-- Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence-- the Federal-style home has near-perfect proportions and airy rooms. The…

This article presents findings of a study on black students attending selective colleges and universities in the United States. Results of a study by sociologists at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania indicate that more than a quarter of the black students enrolled at selective American colleges and universities are immigrants…

In this article, the author discusses the Democratic victories that have raised expectations on college campuses in part because a number of the gubernatorial candidates, including Deval L. Patrick, emphasized themes of access and affordability in their campaigns. Mr. Patrick, the governor-elect of Massachusetts, traveled to the University of…

Three years ago, as part of a broad effort to raise academic standards in college sports, the NCAA adopted a controversial rule designed to make life difficult for athletes idling in the classroom. The measure--known as the 40-60-80 rule, or the "progress toward degree" requirement--mandates that, to remain eligible to compete, athletes must…

One in five college athletes say their sports participation has prevented them from choosing the major they wanted, according to survey results released at the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA's) 2007 annual convention. The survey also found that time demands on athletes had increased in the past two decades, with many players…

This article reports the findings of a study showing that one-third of all foreign students who studied at Australian universities speak English so poorly that they should never have been granted visas to study in the country in the first place. The study, by Robert Birrell, director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Australia's…

Educational institutions have adopted athletics programs to promote character building. Sports help people feel comfortable in their skins and provide unique opportunities to develop qualities such as cooperation, perseverance, and the ability to cope with fear. But the arena can be a hothouse for more primal feelings that emerge in competition.…

The most effective blogs provide important and cutting-edge information (e.g., Tech Crunch), communicate deeply personal experiences through narrative (e.g., the Cancer Blog), or write to a specific audience (e.g., chemistry teachers). Most people with successful blogs are deeply committed to posting, for personal reasons, such as a passion for…

According to Weisbuch, many professors often view marketing and advertising as means to employ persuasion, not toward the good, but amorally, toward a commercial end that may be socially beneficial or harmful. Those in academe exist in a competitive environment, and while they are painfully aware of certain excesses and compromises that the…

This article presents compelling reasons why President George W. Bush decided to double federal funds for agencies supporting physical-science research. The biggest beneficiaries of Mr. Bush's plan for 2008 would be the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy's Office of Science. Those agencies, together with the National…

Most college and university speech codes would not survive a legal challenge, according to a report released in December by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a watchdog group for free speech on campuses. The report labeled many speech codes as overly broad or vague, and cited examples such as Furman University's prohibition of…

A few days before President Bush officially released his 2008 budget, administration officials announced that it would contain a historic increase in the maximum Pell Grant. The increase in Pell Grants would be paid for by cutting subsidies for student loans, a step that experts predicted could induce lenders to offer fewer benefits to borrowers.…