Can an academic institution be truly free if it relies on government funding? Federal dollars mean federal mandates, and those mandates grow increasingly draconian. More and more, they stifle debate on open questions, demand denial of verifiable scientific truths, eliminate due process for students accused of misdeeds by other students, or insist…

The partnership between the government and American research universities lies at the heart of the U.S. scientific and higher educational enterprise. This unique and historic partnership has advanced human health, enhanced national security, and produced human capital that has fueled technological innovation and economic growth, created entire new…

When Congress passed the GI Bill, it linked the accreditation process with the distribution of federal funds. As Congress saw it, accreditation would ensure accountability without subjecting institutions to harmful external controls. While accreditation began as a voluntary system, it has now become virtually mandatory. Policymakers and trustees…

The U.S. Department of Education, overriding opposition from colleges and accreditors, is pushing ahead with a plan to remake American higher education by requiring that colleges show results if they want to remain eligible for more than $90-billion in federal student aid. At the end of a three-day session last month, representatives of colleges…

The president of Northeastern University and a senior vice president at the American Council on Education discuss how colleges and their Washington representatives can take steps to stem the recent surge in federal regulation of colleges and universities. Also outlines the elements of meaningful regulatory reform. (EV)

The president of the University of Georgia, Athens, discusses the legislative history of Title IX and HEW's investigation of his school's athletic programs. He considers this as part of the trend toward increasing federal control of higher education. (SJL)

Charter schools are publicly financed schools that are governed by teachers, parents, administrators, or others who want to create and manage an innovative public school. This document briefly defines charter schools and provides an overview of their history. It also discusses the stance toward charter schools taken by President Clinton, who…

Federal governmental impact on the University of Iowa has four forms. The first and most significant is through expenditures on education, student aid, research, health service, and similar efforts. Dramatic variations in the level or kind of expenditures in these areas have far greater effects on higher education programs than do regulations. The…

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's report on governance and institutional autonomy ("The Control of the Campus") is outlined, touching on issues in the government-college relationship, budgets and state and institutional prerogatives, litigation, anecdotal evidence of government interference, the schools' responsibilities,…

Discusses the marketisation of education in Singapore since the mid-1980s. Describes and analyses two major manifestations of this phenomenon: encouragement of greater school autonomy and fostering of competition among schools. Argues that Singapore has a regulated market, which threatens to exacerbate the disparities between schools in terms of…

In the Netherlands, freedom of research and teaching are self-evident, but equally self-evident are the government limits set on this freedom through legislation, regulations, and financial constraints imposed. Having begun as restrained advice, government influence has become active control in current circumstances. Mutual survival is now the…

The role of institutional self-evaluation is considered in the context of transition from central regulation to self-regulation in various higher education systems in Europe. A distinction is made between external steering, where regulations and decisions are made by a central state authority, to self-steering, where decisions and regulations are…

Economic dependence on federal support has increased while the debate over the nature and scope of government influence on higher education continues. Examples of this influence in hiring and admissions, academic policy-making, research regulation, and support of private institutions are discussed. (Author/MSE)

The impact on higher education equity and diversity of Australia's recent shift from elite to mass higher education is assessed. Among the issues discussed are institutional role and autonomy, changes in regulation, market forces in higher education, and competition among institutions. (MSE)

At Earlham College, a liberal arts college with a Quaker heritage and an enrollment of 1200, department heads and administrators were surveyed to discover the perceived impact of federal regulation and legislation. Faculty were sent questionnaires; administrators were sent questionnaires followed up by interviews. The complaints registered were:…