As candidates in the 2012 election debated issues raised by the state of the US economy, unemployment statistics and job creation took center stage. The problems under discussion posed (and continue to pose) a particularly clear and pressing challenge to the nation's graduate schools. While the US enjoys a reputation for having the most dynamic…

In 2010, HCM Strategists received support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to engage academic researchers in identifying and discussing the best currently available ways to account for differences in college "inputs"--students, resources, and fixed characteristics--when evaluating postsecondary outcomes. The project, Context…

This article seeks to make sense of the seeming contradiction that the number of degrees awarded annually and the attainment rate of the adult population in the US have both grown, even as the country has fallen behind many global competitors on the latter indicator. Two reports issued in 2012---one by the Pew Research Center, the other by the…

For decades, the US education system has failed to adequately combat a decline of civic engagement and awareness, resulting in what many are now calling a "civics recession." The good news is that there is growing awareness, at all levels, that we need new and concerted efforts to make civic learning and engagement a core component of…

For the last decade, the American Council on Education (ACE) has charted higher education's progress towards internationalization through its Mapping Internationalization on US Campuses project. Using surveys of US institutions conducted in 2001, 2006, and 2011, the Mapping study examines strategic planning, the curriculum, faculty policies and…

This study takes a step back from the undergraduate classroom to address faculty development, a phenomenon that ranges from general orientation sessions for new teachers to occasional brown bag lunches; reading groups; informal and program-based workshops; and more formal ones on pedagogy, assessment, and more. The tacit assumption underlying them…

As the global work environment continues to evolve, the United States needs to increase its human capital in order remain economically competitive. Whether the nation can meet the demands of the global economy and maintain its standing as a global leader will be tied inextricably to its ability to increase the proportion of Americans with advanced…

At a time of devastating reductions to state appropriations for higher education, it is tempting to attribute performance problems that have been accumulating for years and even decades to the resultant financial stress. But the problems of performance predate the Great Recession. Well before its onset, American higher education was…

Most position descriptions for college and university faculty include benchmarks that indicate assumptions about collegiality. Criticism about this practice has been voiced for years. But case law in the United States has upheld the use of collegiality as a factor in decisions regarding faculty employment, tenure, and promotion. Indeed, several…

Each year, thousands of undergraduates in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields conduct research in US university and college laboratories. Such undergraduate research (UR) experiences are common practice in US higher education, with nearly a century of history at research universities and liberal arts colleges.…

The publication of Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa's influential new book, "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses," the findings of which were summarized in an article by the same authors in the March/April "Change," has caused a national furor centering around their multi-institutional findings that the…

Like most schools, College of William and Mary is not shy about touting its amenities. The Webpage that advertises the college's housing and dining options begins with, "Wireless and Starbucks? Thomas Jefferson never had it this good." Advertising of this sort is a double-edged public-relations sword. Colleges and universities clearly want to…

Most of assessment's attention over the last two decades has been aimed at cross-cutting outcomes--critical and analytical thinking, problem solving, quantitative literacy, and communication--that are typically identified with general education. Just about everyone agrees that abilities like these are essential markers of higher learning; critical…

One of the major developments in financing undergraduate education in the United States in the past 20 years has been the introduction of broad-based merit-aid programs by state governments. The typical program waives tuition and fees at public colleges and universities for state residents who have attained a respectable grade-point average…

In 2007, the College Board's Community College Advisory Panel--a group of college presidents that advises the organization's membership on community college issues--asked these authors to write a paper describing effective remedial education programs. They never wrote the paper. The problem was not the lack of dedicated faculty and staff working…