The theory of academic capitalism is used to explore US and EU marketization trajectories. Comparisons are made along the following dimensions: creation and expansion of intermediating organizations external to universities that promote closer relations between universities and markets; interstitial organizations that emerge from within…

The crucial importance of the research university as a key asset in achieving economic prosperity and security is widely understood, as evidenced by the efforts that nations around the globe are making to create and sustain institutions of world-class quality. Yet, while America's research universities remain the strongest in the world, they are…

This article analyses key events in the history of adult and community education in Aotearoa New Zealand. It draws on historical sources to examine the role of grassroots community activism and local and national networking in upholding a broad vision of adult and community-based education, in the face of a hostile policy climate. The authors…

In an era of financial constraint, this article gives attention to the role of "community college global counterparts" by comparing colleges of further education in the UK with community colleges in the US. It points to similarities between the two and the ways in which budgetary constraints impact on them--and, in particular, on access…

This case study examines North Carolina State University's community-engaged scholarship faculty development program established in 2009-2010. Reflections by the program coordinators and participants reveal that the university's paradoxical identity as both a land-grant and a research institution has produced tensions in three areas: funding…

"Benchmarking 2010" offers insights into the current priorities, practices and concerns of education grantmakers. The report is divided into five sections: (1) Mapping the Education Grantmaking Landscape; (2) 2010 Funding Priorities; (3) Strategies for Leveraging Greater Impact; (4) Identifying Significant Trends in Education Funding; and (5)…

This article describes the Educational Quality Facilities project undertaken by Italy's Campania Region to provide quality facilities to all of its communities basing new spaces on the "Flexible Learning Module". The objectives of the five-year project are to: build and equip new educational spaces; improve the quality of existing…

In many ways, families who have children with special needs are similar to most other families. They share a daily routine, watch movies and eat popcorn on the weekends, and enjoy vacationing together at a beach or camp. All parents want their children to have access to good schools and the best possible healthcare. Most importantly, parents hope…

The Hungarian student loan system was introduced in 2001. It has four main attributes: universal access and universal conditions; income contingent repayment; private funding; and self-sustaining (zero-profit) operation without direct state subsidy. This latter characteristic makes the scheme quite unique in international practice. Empirical facts…

On February 13, administrators at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University began to worry that $114-million they had invested with two Wall Street veterans might have disappeared. Their worst fears were realized two weeks later, as federal agents arrested Paul R. Greenwood and Stephen Walsh on multiple counts of fraud and…

Clement A. Price, a member of the Obama transition team's committee on the arts, spent several days in December walking the halls of the National Endowment for the Humanities, interviewing program officers and generally taking the temperature of the place. It was an interesting moment to visit: not only was a new president preparing to take…

A policy analysis of Florida's 10-factor Performance-Based Funding system for state universities. The focus of the article is on the system of performance metrics developed by the state Board of Governors and their impact on institutions and their missions. The paper also discusses problems and issues with the metrics, their ongoing evolution, and…

In 2002 the Council of the Great City Schools and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to achieve these objectives. The purposes of the project were to: (1) Establish a common…

It is commonly asserted, especially by people within higher education, that the American Ivory Tower is strapped for cash and tightfisted taxpayers are to blame. Taxpayer support for postsecondary education has long been in decline, this narrative goes, and has forced schools to continually raise tuition to make up for the losses. Tallying…

A sustainable plan for arts education is not allocated in the operating costs of many elementary school districts. Arts education is becoming expendable, as budgets become tighter and emphasis is placed on test scores in accountable subject areas. High stakes testing, pre-identified supposed outcomes, and public concern about school productivity…