Is higher education a cause, a consequence, a public or private good, a problem or a solution? Depends, I suppose, on the axe one is keen to sharpen. Increasingly I am finding discussions about higher education to sound like arguments about health care. It’s great if you’re wealthy, OK if you have some money and…
Tag: value proposition
What’s In Your Bundle? A Pared-Down Future for Higher Education
When I used to think of bundling, two thoughts come to mind. The first is colonial America’s enthusiasm for torturing love-struck adolescents. Parents would place young couples in a bed with a wooden “bundling” board between them. The covers would be tied down and the aspiring couple would be able to converse and sleep, but…
Facts Before Changes
Fall term is well underway at my college. The hallways are full, with lingering, chatting, and many hugs and handshakes. Students do more than rush to the next class. Sometimes it feels like an ongoing shared endeavor, a community working together. If you are seeking reassurance about the state of higher education, a few days in…
Workplace Skills and Liberal Education – AAC&U Panel
It was my pleasure to present on a panel, “Workplace Skills and Liberal Education: Equity and Access . . . and Quality and Depth” at the national AAC&U conference. Organized by Saul Fisher, Executive Director for Grants and Academic Initiatives and Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy at Mercy College, I also shared the table with…
Get Educated, Live Longer
The August issue of Health Affairs, a leading journal of health policy research, has an article that starkly highlights two Americas: one that is educated and full of promise, and one that is not educated and truncated. Titled “Differences In Life Expectancy Due To Race And Educational Differences Are Widening, And Many May Not Catch Up,”…
New Normals and Higher Education
What is normal in higher education today? When we think of a college we often picture young people, popular football games, lectures halls and the academic quad. However, traditional students, the 18-21 year-olds who live in dormitories, make up less than 20% of all who study in higher ed. One of the great strengths and…
Career Advice Can Appear in the Strangest Forms
Career development centers are hot spots on college campuses. Prospective students and their parents inspect them, faculty seek their perspective on student success and failure in the world of work, employers liaise with them to find talent, and alumni offices partner with them to keep graduates engaged. In a world that demands outcomes, higher education…