Previously, this author had suggested that a gradual redistribution was occurring across American higher education, especially among adult learners. Local hegemony was at risk, as online interlopers, increasingly from top tier universities and other academic behemoths, offered students choice they never had before without having to relocate. A…

For more than half a century, the "New England Journal of Higher Education" ("NEJHE") has been publishing tables and charts exploring "Trends & Indicators" (T&I) in New England's demography, high school performance and graduation, college enrollment, college graduation rates and degree production, higher education financing and university…

A recent report by the College Board might be an indicator of how fast the sands of higher education are shifting. The prices that most people actually pay for college, which had remained stable for several years, are on the rise again, as tuition and other cost increases outpace financial aid awards. In its latest annual survey, the College Board…

Anyone who fixates on graduation rates has little understanding not only of the rich mission and value of community colleges, but also how deeply flawed and inadequate those rates are as a principal assessment tool for the performance of community colleges. In this article, the author discusses what is wrong with the use of graduation rates as the…

Institutional resistance to online learning has been melting away during these recessionary times, as schools seek ways to address enrollment pressures without increasing faculty or classrooms. But the test for online learning should be based as much on learning efficacy as financial efficiency. Seeking comparability in learning outcomes should be…

Since New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) began publishing tables and charts exploring "Trends & Indicators" in New England higher education more than a half-century ago, few figures have grabbed as much attention as college "enrollment" data. These local, state, regional and national data go beyond simple headcounts of students going to…

Since the start of the global financial crisis a little over two years ago, many concerns have been raised on how it might affect funding to higher education and whether or not it might hasten moves toward greater cost sharing. While, globally, some steps have been taken in this direction, in most countries, hard decisions have yet to be taken on…

Connecticut's strategy for higher education focuses on one central goal: to increase student success. While other states in New England and beyond are increasing the percentage of adults with degrees, Connecticut's rate of increase for young adults has dropped to 34th out of 50 states. For a state among the nation's richest and home to world-class…

A 2008 report from the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Culture Affairs of the Maine Legislature indicates a quarter of those who enrolled at a public university in Maine required a remedial course to catch them up to the level where they should have been when they completed high school. Regardless of how hard Maine has tried and how much…

While most in the academic community know about the attempt to rein in the for-profits, few are aware of its collateral damage. In October, the Department of Education (DOE) issued its Program Integrity Rules, intended to protect federal funds especially from those for-profit institutions with high student loan default rates. Well-intentioned…

Evidence about the role that "soft factors" like student engagement and school environment play in influencing whether high school students go on to enroll in college is hard to come by. Over the past two years, the Center for Labor Market Studies (CLMS) of Northeastern University, with support from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the…

The value of a college degree is well documented. College graduates earn at least 60% more than high school graduates. Beyond the economic value, college graduates show higher rates of civic participation, engage in volunteer work and even have a much higher likelihood of being "happy." Students who drop out without attaining a college degree will…

One would think that being the nation's only private, urban, two-year technical college might be a source of some notoriety, especially if that institution also traces its history back to a bequest in Benjamin Franklin's will. But even among New England's higher education community, Boston's Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT) is a…

The monikers are many: (1) "Generation Y"; (2) "Echo Boomers"; (3) "GenMe"; (4) the "Net Generation"; (5) "RenGen"; and (6) "Generation Next". One name that appears to be gaining currency is "Millennials," perhaps as a way to better differentiate the current generation from its predecessor, Generation X. Millennials are those individuals born…

In the past two years, the global financial crisis has wreaked havoc on businesses in America and abroad. But the gloom and doom seems to have had the opposite effect on business schools. The reason is that a recession often signals the perfect time for proactive students to sharpen their skill sets, shift their career goals (whether toward a…