Through comparative statistical data of public investment trends in higher education, the institution of higher education in the US is contemporarily contextualized within the growing milieu of disparity. Specifically, this study focuses on the period from 1992 to 2007 to see if a mitigation of the growing economic disparity projected per the…

Respondents to "Library Journal's" ("LJ") annual book buying survey of public libraries nationwide reported that adult book budgets were down eight percent overall, the largest plunge recorded since the survey began in 1998. What's more, for the first time ever, cuts were reported for every region of the country and every size of population…

This year has been a very frustrating year for career and technical education (CTE) advocates across the country. They have experienced significant funding reductions for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins), not to mention the cuts in state and local CTE funding. The Association for Career and Technical Education…

England is developing a new quality assurance regime that will come into effect in October 2011. A new funding regime will operate from the following year, together with new rules to ease the participation of private higher education providers. This article describes and analyses the new quality and funding regimes. It argues that the greater…

Wisconsin's influential Learnfare initiative is a conditional cash "penalty" program that sanctions a family's welfare grant when covered teens fail to meet school attendance targets. In the presence of reference-dependent preferences, Learnfare provides uniquely powerful financial incentives for student performance. However, a 10-county…

The landscape of financing early childhood education in the U.S. is complex. Programs run the gamut from tuition-supported private centers to public programs supported by federal, state, or local funds. Different funding streams are poorly coordinated. The federal government funds several major targeted programs that are available only to specific…

The experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) is in trouble. Financial support for basic operant-conditioning research is difficult to obtain; teaching and research positions in colleges and universities are few; and bright undergraduates join other fields for graduate study. One reason for the difficulty is that EAB basic research does not focus…

This article examines current debates surrounding British higher education funding from a political economy perspective, drawing on "positive" and "institutionalist" political economy. Adopting the lens of political economy enables a critical assessment of the use of terms drawn from economics by many higher education…

Offering some relief from a raft of reports about declining education attainment and increasing college costs, Anya Kamenetz celebrates Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) for boosting higher education productivity, access, and affordability ("Change," September/October 2011). According to Kamenetz, PLA is transforming higher education by leveraging…

Now that universities have shifted their priorities to those of the "cash nexus", they increasingly articulate their accomplishments and validate their existence in business terms for a globally competitive academic market. But corporatizing trends and the use of bibliometric tools that rank publication and quantify scholarity impact a…

To meet its future challenges in financing higher education, Egypt has no option but to search for alternative funding arrangements. This article considers the question of how to do so, keeping in mind the need to ensure equitable access to good quality education for those who cannot afford it. To this end, the article begins by assessing public…

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main determinants of time-to-degree in higher education. Our results use retrospective data on the full cohort of first-time entering students who embarked on short and long programs from one university in Spain and who were observed over an 8-year period ending in 2004. The descriptive analyses show…

Different development partners support research and capacity building in universities in different areas and for different motives. However, whatever the reasons for or areas of support, the research supported must contribute to the development of the institution, students, staff and the society at large. The supports should be able to enhance…

Over a decade ago, the National Science Board (NSB) highlighted the importance of international collaboration in its call for increased government commitment to promoting international science and engineering (S&E) research and education. The NSB also identified the National Science Foundation (NSF) as having an important leadership role in…

How can a school best use technology for teaching and learning? This inspiring book profiles eight visionary schools that are achievers in how they approach technology. In this companion to "Leading 21st Century Schools," Lynne Schrum and Barbara Levin offer insights direct from principals, teachers, superintendents, and others involved in…