21st Century Scholar

In an age of rampant capitalism we have the capacity to direct every dollar in a particular direction that the capitalist state desires. In my last blog I wrote about the ability of the state to change its financial aid system so that public universities can get more state aid while the private institutions get [...]

Let’s assume we’re friends and you’re hungry and out of money. You come to me and say, “I need some money for lunch.” I look in my wallet, pull out a 10, and say, “Keep the change.”  You come back in an hour and sheepishly say, “I need another five bucks.” I shake my head [...]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the FixUC plan. The February 2 article in Inside Higher Ed titled No Money Down! about the plan inspired me to look into it even more. I get the basics: You go to a UC and then graduate. You pay nothing while in school. You only have to pay 5% [...]

This past week, we had a two day visit from 35 Brazilian administrators and faculty; the Minister of Higher Education and his staff also visited from the Maldives earlier in the week.  The purpose of these visits was to learn more about various aspects of higher education.   The “American model” rightly or wrongly has caught [...]

If we accept President Obama’s challenge that we need to increase access to college dramatically by 2020, then we will need to add one million new students to the higher education system every year until 2020. How do we do that? The CSU and UC and cc systems are closing students out, not increasing student [...]

One percent of spending does not fully explain the impact of philanthropies. First, of all the thousands of foundations that contribute to education, 15 or so donate the majority of funds. What results are hugely powerful interest groups–or, perhaps more precisely, individuals backed by their foundations–with access to money, publicity, and influential people. Think about, as [...]

Philanthropic donations account for nearly one percent of all education spending, a seemingly paltry amount for sure. Yet, a cursory glance at this statistic belies the current and future significance of philanthropy and its step-child, venture philanthropy, in education. A report by the Future of Philanthropy predicts, as baby boomers retire, the number of foundations [...]

I spent my formative years in the DC suburbs. Every Sunday morning, as such, I eagerly walked to the end of my driveway where I found The Washington Post. Sitting at the table, I wandered from the Sports section into the Arts & Living section and, sometimes, maybe even the Education section. Anyone familiar with the Post doubtless knows of [...]

Tuition Blues Persuaded by neoconservative rhetoric to the effect that the major benefits (and profits) of a college education accrue to the graduates themselves, and struggling under diminishing federal support for social services and falling revenues, many state legislatures uncapped tuition rates, or at least let them rise more swiftly than they had in five [...]