21st Century Scholar

Peter Scott uses the metaphor of “the angle of repose” in his nice new book, Harnessing America’s Wasted Talent. The angle of repose is an engineering term, but I know it as the title of a book by one of my favorite authors, Wallace Stegner. In engineering an “angle of repose” is the angle at [...]

In a recent New York Times magazine article, Joe Nocera spells out a compelling argument about why we need for profit colleges. Given the fight and fury concerning the private sector colleges in the U.S. Congress, the Department of Education, and the media, I find myself frequently writing in support of the sector. My nearly [...]

What is Gainful Employment? Why Should Universities Care? by Mark DeFusco, Ph.D. Recently, for-profit colleges and universities have been rocked by allegations of impropriety and their valuations have plummeted in the wake of hearings and Qui Tam investigations. The fear has been that these for-profit institutions have taken advantage of uninformed consumers who flock to [...]

by Bill Tierney In a recent study, the Los Rios Community College District reported that most of their students now transfer to a private non- or for-profit institution rather than a UC or CSU. One might think that the logical point of transfer for a community college student is the CSU but the report indicates [...]

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 [...]

On the first Friday of each month, we’re joined by guest scholar, Mark DeFusco. Want to know more about Mark? For a PBS Frontline interview, click here. First Friday – Revisited by Dr. Mark DeFusco First Fridays used to hold particular significance to me growing up.   My parents, offspring of immigrants, took great pride in enrolling [...]

by Bill Tierney Here’s an interesting point about the need for research in a particular area, and how important it is that academics do it. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) did a study, of sorts, of 15 for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs).  They found misconduct and fraud at virtually all of the 15 institutions.  They [...]

21st Century Scholar continues its conversation about for-profit universities with a post by Mark De Fusco. About the author: Mark DeFusco joined Berkery Noyes with long and varied experience in higher education management. He served as chief executive officer/president at Vatterott Education Holdings, a private equity-held, for-profit college with 20 campuses in nine Midwestern states. Earlier, Mark [...]

This week, 21st Century Scholar continues its conversation about for-profit universities with a post by Doug Burleson. About the author: Doug Burleson is a research assistant in the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) working with Dr. William Tierney. His research interests include issues of college preparation and access as well as how educational quality [...]

This week, 21st Century Scholar converses about for-profit universities with 5 participating guest scholars. Today’s author is Jorge Klor de Alva. About the author: Dr. Jorge Klor de Alva became Senior Vice President for Academic Excellence and Director of the University of Phoenix National Research Center in August 2007. He was President of Latin America Operations [...]