The Faculty of Applied Linguistics at the State University of Haiti hardly looks like an institute of higher learning. Hidden away on a quiet downtown cross street, the grimy one-story building contains just three classrooms, along with a library, the dean's office, and a teachers' lounge, each no larger than a bedroom. Two years ago, the…

Eight years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq and a few months after the withdrawal of the military forces from the country, Iraq's universities, devastated by years of dictatorship, sanctions, and war, are still struggling to recover. The security situation has improved since the deadly, dark days of 2006 and 2007, when the country teetered on the…

The author reports on the reigning economic calculus that helps to drive constant expansion and poor utilization of space on many campuses. The author states that colleges could charge for utilities, which might encourage departments to save energy. Most American colleges do not charge for space--in part because doing so would raise the hackles of…

In the aftermath of the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, international humanitarian groups and volunteers poured into the country, bolstering what was already one of the world's hot spots for nongovernmental organizations. But the magnitude of the disaster--an estimated 300,000 were killed and one million left homeless out of a…

In Germany, tuition is low because state governments shoulder a much higher percentage of university budgets than in the United States. As a result, most German universities provide far fewer amenities and services, and require their professors to teach longer hours to larger numbers of students than their American counterparts. Because they are…

Nearly every state is projecting a revenue shortfall for both the current budget year and the next fiscal year, and few public-college officials expect to dodge the budget ax. But some higher-education leaders and state policy makers see the bleak economic outlook as an opportunity to press for broad changes in college policy and operations that…

President Obama announced a plan to spend an unprecedented $12-billion over 10 years to improve programs, courses, and facilities at community colleges. The money, the president said, will position two-year institutions to produce five million more graduates over the next decade and to play a leading role in rebuilding the economy. But after the…

The deepening financial crisis that is now affecting markets and people around the globe gives new context to what the nation is facing. Americans cannot think of business as usual in any sector of public or private life, including higher education. President-elect Barack Obama will have very little financial latitude and enormous immediate…

According to this author, a quiet revolution is picking up steam in the nation's private secondary schools, with broad implications for college admissions and for teaching and learning on both sides of the transition from high school to college. About 50 of the nation's leading college-preparatory schools have opted out of the College Board's…

This article discusses the Greek Parliament's controversial education bill passed recently that sparked riots and unrest in Athens. The government's controversial education package includes measures that would limit the number of years students can take to complete a university degree and would curtail university asylum laws. A separate proposal…

This article describes Israel's latest conflict--plummeting government spending and strikes by faculty members and students which are threatening the stability of the country's universities. The founders of the modern state of Israel considered higher education to be so important that they established the country's first two universities long…

Describes how Massachusetts' governor and the politically powerful head of the state university are grappling over a plan to revamp the system, reduce its budget, and do away with the president's job. (EV)

John Brademas' career in national politics and its effect on his approach to his work as president of New York University are discussed. (MSE)

The United States must embrace a broadened concept of science as a basically humanistic endeavor if it is to maintain its vigor as a democracy and an international leader. Education needs new programs and gifted teachers to give students a broad and comprehensive knowledge of both the liberal arts and science and technology. (MSE)

A special committee studying possible changes in Texas higher education is considering a variety of politically troubling alternatives including institutional reclassifications, faculty salary and tenure changes, funding alternatives, restructured governance, and mergers and closings. (MSE)