Harsh economic realities mean trouble for college leaders. But where administrators perceive an impending crisis, investors increasingly see opportunity. In recent years, venture capitalists have poured millions into education-technology start-ups, trying to cash in on a market they see as ripe for a digital makeover. And lately, those wagers have…

Everyone has an opinion about technology. Depending on whom you ask, it will either: a) Liberate us from the drudgery of everyday life, rescue us from disease and hardship, and enable the unimagined flourishing of human civilization; or b) Take away our jobs, leave us broke, purposeless, and miserable, and cause civilization as we know it to…

Technology shifts gears. The workers who control it need to learn how to shift gears, too. Workers brought up with universal schooling would respect authority, learn enough "geometry and mechanics" to use in their trades, keep invention alive, and finally see through "the interested complaints of faction and sedition." In other…

Because of the worst economic downturn since World War II, many state governments now expect revenues to fall in coming years--resulting in less public spending on higher education. Certain state-revenue reforms could moderate the effects of economic slumps on colleges. In this article, the author examines the growth of public spending on…