During the past few years, "soft power" has been widely discussed and studied in China. Higher education, one of the largest components of national soft power, has begun to play an active and important role. In this article, we review the literature on the soft power of colleges and universities and describe ways to enhance it; we also identify…

With the development of mass higher education in China, confusion--a contradictory state between college students' awareness of employment, learning, morality, and their own behavior and societal requirements--is proving a ubiquitous problem among college students. His confusion has garnered much social attention. In this paper, the origins of…

In this article, the author begins to examine the connections between institutional enrollment management efforts and the various external for-profit, and not-for-profit, businesses that have become part of the enrollment management industry. This essay is an effort to map the relationships between institutions, the enrollment industry, and more…

The purpose of this study was to examine dissertations that were published in the U.S. during the past 5 years that related to collegiate housing. The dissertations were examined using a bounded qualitative meta-analysis approach. Each dissertation was examined using three questions: What were the methods/attributes of the research? What were the…

Among trends in American education, homeschooling stands as one of the most complex and contentious--and least understood. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) did not issue the first comprehensive estimates and analysis of the homeschool population until 2001. As the body of knowledge about homeschooling expands and the movement grows…

This policy brief looks ahead for 2008 and presents the top 10 state issues most likely to be at the forefront of discussion and action that will affect public higher education across the 50 states, in the view of the state policy analysis and research staff at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). The focus is on…

This analysis of secondary-postsecondary alignment issues suggests some clear directions that campus, system, and state policy leaders must take to improve the success of students in the educational pipeline. These efforts will be more successful if they take place as part of broader K-16 initiatives--efforts that include early outreach to high…

Identifies and summarizes key provisions of the privacy regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Suggests approaches a university can take to achieve compliance with those provisions, and discusses issues raised by the privacy regulations that are of particular relevance to the academic community. (EV)

Analyzes the legal principles, facts, and circumstances that govern decisions of courts regarding the validity of written releases, and provides practical advice to higher education lawyers and administrators as they evaluate the utility of releases and seek to maximize their benefit. (EV)

Explains that courts have generally subjected disciplinary action to procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment, while academic sanctions have garnered greater deference. Examines the judicial history of this dual track, establishes the difficulty of characterizing as either disciplinary or academic the countless situations reflecting…

Discusses the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Gonzaga University v. Doe, where the Supreme Court held that a person whose records were disclosed has no right to sue the institution for its violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). Explores the decision's ramifications for higher education, including applicable…

Discusses the history of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Falvo and Gonzaga U.S. Supreme Court cases, and how universities might rethink FERPA in light of digital records. A discussion of Professor Lawrence Lessig's book "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace" is used as a framework for discussing institutional choices with…

Examines the current state of First Amendment rights of faculty at public colleges and universities. Using as a focus the recent case of Crue v. Aiken, analyzes the place of the prior restraint doctrine and the treatment of public employees in the free speech context, arriving at a conclusion that offers an extension of the restrictions allowed by…

Explores two aspects of financial dilemmas in postsecondary education and disability law: who pays for funding of students' auxiliary aids and for how long. Suggests that in the 1998 Rehabilitation Act Amendments, Congress implicitly acknowledged that agencies may sometimes be unable to offer students a full range of vocational services,…

Demonstrates that the ruling in "Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, " a case involving an Americans with Disabilities Title I suit, made it more problematic than ever that Congress will be able to deploy Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to abrogate state judicial immunity. Evaluates surviving options for enforcing…