Among the 142 ballot measures that will be before voters in 33 states this November are 17 proposals in 13 states that would directly affect higher education. Michigan voters will face questions about stem-cell research, people going to the polls in Colorado and Nebraska will be asked about affirmative action, and voters in six states will decide…

This article reports on Wachovia Bank's move in freezing the accounts of nearly 1,000 colleges that invest through Commonfund, leaving them unable to reach billions of dollars they depend on for salaries, construction, and debt payments. The move could cause other ripples, as Moody's Investors Service announced it would review the credit impact of…

Nearly 400 colleges across the United States are about to be asked to disclose intimate financial details of their operations to the Internal Revenue Service. This article reports on a highly detailed financial questionnaire designed by the IRS for the first phase of its Colleges and Universities Compliance Project, which is part of a continuing…

This article profiles Loren Pope, a college consultant and a former education editor at "The New York Times" who touted "no name" colleges and called the nation's most famous university, Harvard University, a rip-off. In his influential book "Colleges That Change Lives" (Penguin, 1996), Mr. Pope profiled 40 institutions--most of them small…

The University of Western Australia is the latest of a half-dozen Australian institutions to drastically overhaul its academic programs, in a move to bring its degrees more in line with global standards, as well as ensure it remains attractive to prospective students. The universities are essentially parting ways with the British system and moving…

Engineers in America are too scarce and too white. That complaint comes from corporate chieftains and education leaders alike, who see those shortfalls as a virtual guarantee that jobs and innovation will head overseas. Now many are looking to remedies to both problems from an unsung source: community colleges. Thanks to low tuition, overall…

Nestled in the mountainous, southeastern Mexican state of Puebla, the University of the Americas-Puebla has been a distinguished institution with close ties to the United States. It was a popular study-abroad choice and enjoyed accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. However, under the tenure of Pedro Angel Palou Garcia,…

During this election year, many people who study race and education had hoped that the nomination of a black presidential candidate and the increased focus on race would have led to a related discussion of equal access to higher education and a turn toward a stronger commitment to the creation of a truly diverse society. However, unfortunately,…

Most of the nation's eighth graders aspire to college. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them will not realize their ambition to complete their higher education and gain some advantage in the job market. In this article, the author contends that the connections between high schools and higher-education institutions are still not what they should…

The perception that academic scientists must pursue money from government agencies like the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health is subverting the aims of science and making it harder for institutions and individual professors to do innovative and original research. Of course winning a large federal grant attracts a…

In today's environmentally aware climate, the author relates that she sees the traditional academic conference in a new light. Many people travel great distances and use vast amounts of resources to stand in front of other energy consumers and read a paper aloud. People do not even call it giving a talk anymore; it is giving a paper. The author…

Throughout American education, black boys and men, on the whole, have struggled for years. They graduate from high school and attend and complete college at disproportionately low rates. The overall college performance of black men is so poor that some college officials and advocates for black students are reluctant to even talk about the problem,…

In this article, the author shares his thoughts when he saw the controversial "New Yorker" cover of July 21, 2008 showing the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, as a Muslim jihadist and his wife, Michelle, as a gun-toting, Afro-wearing black militant. The cover told the story of a rite of African-American passage that occurred at a…

Professors of economics, business, and related fields were asked to answer the following question: Does the financial crisis affect how economic theory should be thought? This article presents some excerpts from their answers.

This article reports on a new and unusual tactic that Kent State University is trying to improve its status, retention rate, and fund raising--paying cash bonuses to faculty members if the university exceeds its goals in those areas. The bonuses are built into a contract, approved last month, that covers 864 full-time, tenure-track faculty members…