21st Century Scholar

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, [...]

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 [...]

Yesterday I discussed the current role of teaching and its impact on student / professor relationships at research universities. Today I discuss the future of graduate-level programs at research universities. The Future The future of the graduate-level university is one of destabilization and changing power dynamics. Two areas, privatization and technology, will guide change. Both [...]

Last week I wrote a five part fictional series on the takeover of the CSU system by a for-profit company.  Fiction is frequently the creation of the possible.  Gatsby may not have lived, but he could have.  Huck Finn may have been the creation of Mark Twain, but many of us grew up with boys [...]