Higher education is in crisis. Revenues from all sources are expected to decrease at both public and private universities. The current crisis will raise existential questions for small and mid-tier institutions. Only universities with massive endowments and highly competitive admissions will escape the effects of the coming enrollment cliff.…

Should remediation in higher education be ended? A recent report from Complete College America says exactly that. The authors call for all public institutions of higher education in the United States to stop offering it and instead ensure that students who need extra help take co-requisite requirements, such as extra tutoring. Their…

In the past year, public colleges and universities across the country have been shrinking degree programs and terminating personnel--including tenured professors--in an effort to cope with budget cuts in higher education. The situation is not confined to a handful of mismanaged public institutions, as in the past. It is a national phenomenon and…

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is closing its online-education grant program, and some college officials are concerned that the decision will leave a fast-growing sector of American higher education without a major source of support. The New York City-based foundation has funneled roughly $80-million into online-education ventures around the…

Attendance is down at many academic and professional conferences in higher education this year, and next year's numbers are expected to be far worse, as campus budgets take further beatings. With many colleges limiting travel to professors or administrators who are speaking at events they are attending, will anyone be left in the audience? A new…

Improving teaching and learning in higher education became an important international endeavor in the 1960s and 1970s, corresponding to an influx of students coming in greater numbers than ever seen before, from a broader range of backgrounds, and with diverse expectations for attending colleges and universities. These same students were also more…

Research into higher education is an expanding field, but it is notable that, while certain kinds of research get funded, undertaken and reported, others generally do not. Thus, articles that critique developing national policies are commonplace, as are reports evaluating the positive effects of innovations in course design or institutional…

Describes how the budgetary decision to eliminate a venerable teaching center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln raises questions about public colleges' commitment to pedagogy. (EV)

Discusses how the collapse of online learning enterprises at several colleges and universities offers lessons for all in this still-promising field. (EV)

Describes the bold but successful steps taken by Champlain College to ensure institutional survival, such as eliminating 15 departments and clearly defining institutional mission. (EV)

Describes how commercial concerns are squeezing out athletes' own interests in big-time college sports, with many teams are being cut in the process. (EV)

Describes how the University of Washington's School of Communications responded to the news that it would be reviewed and possibly eliminated because of the budget crises in the state of Washington. (SR)

Discussion of some of the findings of a study of four library school closings highlights political reasons for the closings, including administration belief that jobs for librarians are in short supply, turf battles with other departments, library faculty isolation from academic peers, redefinition of university mission, insufficient faculty…

Describes how private philanthropies are abandoning higher education, citing other priorities and a sense that colleges are not needy. (EV)

Discusses the debate among experts over why New York University's for-profit venture went under--the changing economy or bad decisions? (EV)