21st Century Scholar

Why Does College Cost So Much? by Mark DeFusco, Ph.D. Last month, I addressed the fact that in many cases, states were contributing a paltry amount of help to their higher education systems. The notion that the Governor of Pennsylvania is proposing to slash nearly 50% of the state’s contribution to Penn State—from 8% of [...]

by Randy Clemens A few weeks ago, Robert Slavin, researcher at Johns Hopkins University and chair of Success for All, wrote a piece for the Huffington Post: A Call to Arms for Education. Slavin discusses the government’s new addition to the Investing in Innovation (i3) Program: Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED). The program is a [...]

Is it Time to Privatize?  How to Compete in Lean Years   by Mark DeFusco, Ph.D. I was struck by a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that discussed Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s plan to cut appropriations by around 50% to four state related institutions including Penn State.   This would be the biggest one [...]

by Randy Clemens This past week, Bill and I participated in a symposium about qualitative research and public policy in the 21st century. The panel went well and included a variety of perspectives from the field. Ed St. John considered the role of qualitative research as either a tool of the state or method for [...]

by Randy Clemens Last year, after attending AERA’s conference in Denver, I wrote about the need for a digital makeover. I made several suggestions for the meeting: (1), provide free wifi, (2), embrace microblogging, and (3), stream symposiums online. My blog was mainly focused on uses of technology to not just improve the experience but [...]

  Why investors like the For-Profit Higher Education Business – A lesson in architecture.  by Mark DeFusco I was recently invited by the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education to speak at their 2011 Global Forum in Vancouver.  They want me to speak about why private equity is so interested in education worldwide, and to participate [...]

by Randy Clemens Firm A, after 25 years competing, is an established industry leader. Some in the company think leadership, at one time pioneering, operates  too conservatively. The company, however, has perfected its widget, giving customers sound, predictable products. Firm B is a start-up. Two Ph.D. students liked Firm A’s widget, but also thought technology could [...]

Our third installment on entrpreneurial education is by John Katzman. About the author: John Katzman is the Chairman and Founder of The Princeton Review, a company he started shortly after graduating from Princeton University in 1981, and that he has helped to grow into a leading provider of educational services operating in twenty countries. Katzman’s innovative [...]

We continue our conversation about entrepreneurial education today with a post by guest scholar, Michael R. Sandler. About the author: Michael R. Sandler, who coined the term “education industry” and is considered an industry founder, established Eduventures in 1993. A lifelong entrepreneur, Mr. Sandler has built a career both in business and education. Mr. Sandler established several successful businesses, including Marsan Industries, which [...]

Today we kick off a week-long conversation about Entrepreneurial Education with a post by Kim Smith. About the author: Kim Smith is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bellwether Education Partners. She is widely recognized as an innovative and entrepreneurial leader in education, and was featured in Newsweek’s report on the “Women of the 21st [...]