When Robert D. Felner applied to become dean of education at the University of Louisville in 2003, he carried a genuinely impressive vita. But two of the most recent large grants listed on that vita could not have survived close scrutiny--and it isn't clear that Louisville's search committee scrutinized them at all. First, the impressive part:…

On July 2, 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed Justin Morrill's second agriculture-school bill into law. Along with another measure he championed, in 1890, it created a system of land-grant colleges that rooted agriculture firmly in university research and helped democratize American higher education, creating institutions not for the sons and daughters…

Student-loan debt is not just a problem for young, recent college graduates searching for their first jobs. Growing numbers of adults nearing the ends of their careers are accumulating such big debt, too, and they don't have a lifetime to pay it back. In fact, student-loan debt is growing fastest among adults ages 60 and older, with more than two…

More than two years after Education Secretary Margaret Spellings stood on a podium in Washington and announced the formation of her Commission on the Future of Higher Education, some of its most powerful effects so far have been on a belt of community colleges in California. In the past year, at least 14 California community and junior colleges…

Research-oriented doctoral programs in education vary widely in quality, and a significant number of them should close up shop, according to a report released last week by the Education Schools Project. The new document, "Educating Researchers," is the third in a series of reports on schools of education from Arthur Levine, who served as president…

Increasingly, local governments are at odds with colleges and universities over payment for municipal services. Some see such payments as a challenge to the institutions' tax-exempt status as nonprofit organizations. Others feel that the economic climate demands a redefinition of the school-community relationship. (MSE)

A plan to reinvigorate the University of Minnesota focuses on undergraduate education, encouraging recruitment of top high school graduates, improved retention, closer faculty-student relationships, and improved campus social climate. Critics find the plan vague, student leaders decry lack of student involvement in planning, minority groups call…

Many colleges have put off repairs and renovation since the recession. Now crumbling buildings, limited budgets, and mounting debt present an increasingly intractable problem. Sightlines, a consulting company that tracks and analyzes facilities issues at more than 300 colleges, shared some of its latest findings with "The Chronicle". The data…

When Brad R. Simpson visited the University of Connecticut for a job interview in February, he was struck by a vibe that he finds increasingly rare on college campuses. People, he says, were optimistic. At a time when he encounters many demoralized professors, as campuses across the nation slash budgets and freeze hiring, the University of…

With tax revenues beginning to rebound in most states and endowments on the rebound at many private and public institutions, colleges and universities are growing more hopeful about their financial outlook and instituting new strategies to take advantage of the opportunities. Yet as the economic recovery has slowed in the past few months,…

In June the U.S Climate Change Science Program, which is sponsored by 13 government agencies, released a report saying that extreme weather like heat waves, heavy downpours, and superpowered hurricanes would be more common in the future. The timing of the report--coming just as officials in Iowa were surveying the damage from the swollen Iowa…

This article looks at how the financial crisis has affected people in different areas of higher education. Matthew V. Filipic, senior vice president for business and fiscal affairs and treasurer at Wright State University, is forceful in arguing that the university must consider students when setting budget priorities. These are uneasy times at…

Economic storms historically have prompted more adults to seek shelter in the classroom. But this time around, two-year colleges and private for-profit institutions are especially optimistic about attracting more students--and many of those older students will probably take courses online, according to one of the authors of a recent survey. The…

As state tax revenues plummet, some lawmakers and higher-education leaders are once again looking at loosening the bonds between state governments and public colleges to save money and give colleges the freedom to bolster their bottom lines in new ways. Over the past two decades, college officials have often lamented the growing need to secure…

Universities are not immune to the effects of the slumping economy, yet many of them are reporting their highest application and enrollment rates ever, as hard times compel people to look for new ways to increase their skills. Students' efforts to improve their job prospects, along with colleges' marketing efforts, have, indeed, translated to…