21st Century Scholar

How the higher ed world changes in such a short time. K–12 education has been in “crisis” much of my adult life, but usually higher education has been spared the Hollywood-like metaphors. “A nation at risk” paralleled other 20th century reports that forecast calamity because particular goals had not been reached in K–12 education. The [...]

There is a classic Abbott and Costello skit called “Who’s on first?” where Costello gets befuddled by the names of his friend’s team. We are close to getting into that situation without half as much humor in academe in terms of academic offerings. Not so long ago if someone wanted a bachelor’s degree we would [...]

For-profit colleges and universities, whether we find them to be friend or foe, are now deeply woven into the fabric of U.S. higher education and society overall. As the 2013 American Educational Research Association Conference in San Francisco draws near, I am particularly excited about sessions that explore for-profit higher education and the changing nature [...]

Any presidential election is an important time to understand the discourse surrounding postsecondary education. Of particular interest to me during this election is how the candidates are framing the issues of college cost and financial aid as well as the role of for-profit colleges. In both cases, what the candidates propose and even what they [...]

The political standoff in Washington over extending low interest rates on student loans would have been unimaginable a generation ago. Back then, there was an unwritten compact between government and higher education. Everyone largely assumed that if government—that is, taxpayers—financially helped more people attend and graduate from college, we would all be better off in [...]

To figure out where we want to go, we first need to figure out what we want to do. For most of my academic life I have harped on Ortega y Gasset’s statement about the importance of understanding the mission of higher education and if we do not, then everything else is “love’s labor lost.” [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

21st Century Scholar’s primary contributor, Dr. William G. Tierney has spent the month of June in Turkey. He blogs about his travel experience in a new series, aptly entitled, Travels in Turkey. Globalization, Privatization and Turkey by Bill Tierney We are currently traveling in Turkey and I’ll have a lot to say when we return, [...]