With legal threats against them mounting, trustees of public and private colleges alike are hearing mixed and vague messages about how much they personally have at stake in lawsuits aimed at their institutions' affirmative-action policies. Few cases in either federal or states courts provide guidance on trustees' potential individual liability.…

A national survey of 346 private and 162 public colleges found that the number of institution with billion-dollar endowments grew from 25 to 31, and that all responding institutions had at least some return on investments, ranging from 3.7% to 38% The greatest change was an increase in the amount of money invested in hedge funds. (MSE)

Data from 506 private and public colleges and universities concerning endowment performance in fiscal 1998 are presented. Each responding institution is ranked, with the market value of its endowments given for June 30, 1997, and June 30, 1998, and the percentage change noted. (MSE)

Once regarded as a by-product for colleges and universities, continuing-education programs now provide needed revenues. Adult students now account for half of all college enrollments. Many full-time faculty are dismissive of adult-education classes, often taught by adjunct professors, but the programs are gaining respect among administrations.…

Increasingly, doctoral programs are cutting enrollments to allow them to offer more financial support to doctoral students, often guaranteeing five-year stipends. The combination of fewer applicants and fewer places in doctoral programs has created competition for the best graduate students. Course offerings have also been reduced, making…

Economic pressures in the publishing industry are causing faculty to write shorter books. The authors want their books to be readable, and publishers want to reduce costs and make the books affordable for a wider audience, including students. Brief but broad surveys, short introductory primers, quick biographies, and books with very basic themes…

In at least ten states, often those with the lowest public-college faculty salaries, higher-education leaders have made more-competitive faculty salaries a top legislative priority this year. Many of the proposals have encountered resistance from governors and state legislators who have other budgetary priorities or who feel that public-college…

The decision of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to stop giving significant admissions preference to minority students sparked student protests and debate about universities' promises of affirmative action. Constitutional scholars and higher-education officials found the university's numerical goals for admissions legally risky, so the…

Student activists have put pressure on colleges and universities to toughen licensing codes aimed at eliminating sweatshop labor for college apparel made in other countries, and have had some success. However, oversight of the codes among contractors in developing countries is logistically and economically problematic. (MSE)

Enrollments at evangelical and other Christian colleges have surged in the last decade, outpacing that of secular institutions. The students, many from home schooling or church-operated schools, want to avoid lifestyles found at many secular colleges and universities. Some critics, however, fear lack of diversity in both enrollments and opinions…

Internet collaboration among laboratories allows scientists to work together at a distance, and will eventually enable researchers to examine microscope-produced images simultaneously and participate in meetings and seminars remotely. If the ventures succeed, the resulting technology will allow smaller institutions to cooperate more easily.…

Under pressure from governors and legislators to heighten academic rigor, technical colleges in several states are becoming part of higher education, whether they want to or not. With business leaders calling for better-educated workers, technical colleges are seen increasingly as stepping-stone institutions within higher education and key cogs in…

Known primarily for its tutoring and testing of grade-school and high-school students, for-profit Sylvan Learning Systems has developed interests in distance education, teacher education, English-language training, and college-level study outside the United States. The company is consciously stepping up its presence in areas associated with higher…

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) infractions-appeals committee has eased some penalties imposed by the association on colleges and universities for rules infractions, and the infractions committee itself has expanded institutions' due-process rights by allowing institutions more time to answer charges. (MSE)

South Africa's black universities face declining interest among black students, who now have more options than under apartheid. The crisis comes as South Africa considers ways to restructure its postsecondary-education system to cut costs and avoid duplication. While black enrollments are rising at other institutions, the numbers of all students…