The growth of distance education and the widespread use of multimedia course materials has led to interest in packaging and selling online courses. While few such courses are available, and fewer still have been successful, debate over issues of academic freedom and intellectual property is heightening. Some faculty say the greatest concern is…

National survey data on fall 1996 enrollments in over 3,300 colleges and universities are displayed, noting percentages of American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Black non-Hispanic, Hispanic, White non-Hispanic, and foreign students (regardless of racial/ethnic background), and totals for each institution. (MSE)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will loosen its academic standards for college athletes with learning disabilities. By agreement with the Justice Department, the NCAA will certify special education classes offered to high school students with learning disabilities toward its initial-eligibility requirements, rather than…

Many colleges and universities are hiring full-time faculty on contract instead of on tenure tracks, saying alternatives to lifetime job security are needed to control costs and assure flexibility. The number of full-time non-tenure-track professors almost doubled between 1975 and 1995, while full-time faculty on tenure tracks fell 12%. (MSE)

Many state legislatures are authorizing the largest bond issues for campus facilities in years, in part for deferred maintenance and repairs. The robust national economy appears to be the main force driving the spending trend. Ironically, some of the states best positioned to give colleges large construction windfalls are those limited…

Many international educational exchange officials see a greater role for parents in promoting students' safety during study abroad. This includes advice on school or program selection, safety of the study country, travel safety, and program duration. The trend is toward shorter stays abroad. The NAFSA Association of International Educators has…

Congress passed spending measures in fiscal 1988 that included at least $495 million for projects involving specific universities, an increase of over 12% over fiscal 1997. These projects are not subject to competitive review based on merit. Some earmarked money is shared across states or with businesses or other organizations. Opponents of…

In 1997 private giving to colleges and universities climbed at the fastest rate in a decade; this was the second year of double-digit growth. However, total giving to two-year colleges and specialized institutions fell considerably. Master's degree institutions, public and private, gained most. Deferred giving showed a particularly strong…

The organizational transformation process begun several years ago by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers has resulted in the association's once-solid financial base collapsing, bringing internal tensions about the transformation to the surface. Debate centers on the organization's ability to be a policy leader…

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), long dismissive of the idea of post-tenure faculty evaluation, has adopted a new policy offering guidance on how such a system should be set up, while insisting it should not be used to revoke tenure. The group still clearly opposes requiring tenured professors to undergo formal, regular,…

Cases in which colleges and universities have taken a donor or his/her heir to court over promised donations, while rare, have been spotlighted recently. Ordinarily, institutions avoid such public battles through careful gift planning or quiet settlement of disputes. However, some feel such cases will multiply because donors and heirs are becoming…

Increasingly, high school students are earning college credits while still in high school, through dual enrollment or advanced placement, which enable some to earn bachelor's degrees in three years or with 12-credit semesters. The trend can reduce student costs, but has sparked debate among professors about whether students are unwisely skipping…

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is aggressively pursuing a plan to change the presentation and dissemination of student research by requiring students to submit theses and dissertations in digital form and creating a database on the World Wide Web that provides free, instantaneous access to graduate students' research. Some…

Dollar amounts of federal support for fiscal 1997 (actual), 1998 (estimated), and 1999 (requested) for higher education and science are charted, by program. Data are given separately for Department of Education programs (student aid, graduate support, institutional assistance, disadvantaged, adult/vocational education, educational…

Investment returns on college and university endowments for 1997 was the sixth double-digit gain in the 1990s and the highest since 1986. Fiscal year 1998 is experiencing greater market volatility, with more modest returns predicted. Institutions with endowments of over $1 billion have increased from 20 to 25 in one year; this group holds nearly…