Students’ Futures as Investments: The Promise and Challenges of Income-Share Agreements. AEI Series on Private Financing in Higher Education

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Income-share agreements (ISAs) are an emerging idea for helping students pay for college. Under an ISA, investors provide upfront sums of money toward students’ college tuition and other associated costs in exchange for a fixed percentage of the recipients’ earnings after graduation. An ISA can take different forms. Some are philanthropic, meaning that successive groups … Read more

A Failing Grade: “High-Tuition/High-Aid”

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*At the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, student demographics have changed significantly since the university switched to high-tuition/high-aid, trending toward fewer low-income students and under- representation of minority students. *The University of Miami-Ohio saw sticker shock in action one year after switching to a high- tuition/high-aid model in 2004. The school experienced a record 13% drop … Read more

Catholic identity and the university

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What is the intent of the core curriculum and mission? Are we as an institution trying to create community, retain current Catholics, evangelize, or inform the pedagogy of our instruction? Scholars and other Catholic institutions have written and spoken about the different choices for religious institutions in the face of a changing attitude towards religion … Read more

The Transfer Playbook: Essential Practices for Two- and Four-Year Colleges

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The Transfer Playbook, a product of the Community College Research Center at Columbia University’s teacher’s College, is a practical guide to designing and implementing practices that will “help community college and four-year college partners realize the promise of the transfer process. The playbook is based on the practices of six sets of community colleges and … Read more

Misplaced Priorities in College Sports

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The Washington Post article, “Misplaced Priorities in College Sports,” describes the competition among colleges to outdo one another in building lavish athletic facilities and what the Post’s Editorial Board sees as a misplaced use of resources. The article takes institutions, including Clemson University and the University of Maryland, to task for ignoring the missions of their … Read more

2016 Critical Issues in Higher Education Conference – SUNYCON 2016

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The 2016 Critical Issues in Higher Education Conference (SUNYCON 2016) was held in New York City in October. The focus of this conference was “Degrees of Influence: The Forces Shaping the Future of Higher Education.” The Agenda for this conference can be found here: https://www.suny.edu/sunycon/2016/agenda/ and features many of the topics we are discussing in … Read more

Educational Technology: NMC Horizon Report 2017 Higher Ed Edition

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Released annually, the Horizon Report aims to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in education. The Horizon Report > Higher Education Edition is a collaborative effort between the NMC and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). The report identifies key trends, challenges, and important developments in educational … Read more

Great Jobs, Great Lives The 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report

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[HT Alison Sjovall for sending me the link to this report] According to a 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report, “Great Job, Great Lives,” the college that students attend does not determine their success in life. Rather, evidence from interviews with more than 30,000 U.S. graduates reveals that it is the different experiences that students have during … Read more

Practicing Sustainability

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In his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis challenges us to take better care of the Earth and all of its biodiversity to better serve all humanity. To that end there is a trend of many college campuses to reduce their carbon footprint, reduce emissions, and be more energy … Read more