The academic and athletic missions of colleges and universities are often portrayed in opposition. One illustration of this tension is the recent "Varsity Blues" admissions scandal, in which illicit athletic recruiting subverted equitable admissions processes. Other less newsworthy examples of tensions around collegiate athletics include…

Over the past fifty years, college enrollment has increased by over 650 percent. Nearly 20 million students are now enrolled in higher education, and these students are more racially diverse than ever: by fall 2015, over 40 percent of students were nonwhite, compared with just over 15 percent in 1976. As the student population has diversified,…

The question of how well students are doing is central to the enterprise of higher education. Students want to know what grade was received on the paper or test. Faculty want to know what it will take to reach tenure or be reappointed. Admissions staff want to know how many students need to be enrolled in order to provide tuition revenue required…

When the author attended a Network for Academic Renewal conference sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in 2011, he was surprised by the level of skepticism expressed from the podium about proprietary higher education. This article is intended as a response. From his perspective as a for-profit educator, the…

In this article, the authors discuss contemporary challenges. David Berry offers advice on teaching the humanities at a community college; Gerald Graff examines how the traditional organization of universities undermines student learning; and Cary Nelson considers the effects on the humanities of the increasing reliance on contingent faculty.

The disciplinary major has long served as the backbone of higher education. Every student has at least one major, and each major prescribes a program of study that is supported by a series of courses both within the field and from the general education curriculum. Yet relying solely on the formal academic curriculum to achieve the outcomes of a…

Recognition of the importance of outcomes related to moral and ethical development, other dimensions of personal development, and civic engagement is a result of decades of educational reform. But have colleges and universities succeeded in helping students achieve these outcomes? In this article, the author shares his personal reflections on…

In addition to dealing with the more or less obvious variables that affect classroom dynamics, teachers need to learn how to deal with the far more difficult issues related to learning, identity, selfhood, and autonomy. In this article, the author first discusses classroom issues that are most visible and vivid for teachers. Next, the author…

What are the odds of changing the culture of teaching and learning at a regional comprehensive university with twenty-three thousand students? Through the Claiming a Liberal Education (CLE) initiative, a group of faculty and administrators at Grand Valley State University sought to achieve this ambitious goal within the context of the university's…

As the leader of the nation's only campus dedicated exclusively to early college, the author heads an institution that ensures students graduate sooner than the national average. As an academic who pursued her graduate work at Oxford University--an institution that confers most of its undergraduate degrees in three years--the author has had direct…

In its Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) outlines four clusters of learning outcomes that are essential for all college students in the twenty-first century and that, taken together, represent a high-quality liberal education. These include: (1) knowledge of…

One of the most critical challenges facing institutions of higher education in the twenty-first century is the need to be more accountable for producing equitable educational outcomes for students of color. Although access to higher education has increased significantly over the past two decades, it has not translated into equitable educational…

This document is a personal account of the authors' views on higher education's role in producing minority leaders. The author makes references to DuBois, the first African American to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard University and one of the first to focus the nation's attention on the issue of blacks, higher education, and the value of liberal…