The Other 85 Percent

There has been considerable discussion and concern about how well the United States is ranked internationally on the proportion of our population that has a college degree.  College degree attainment is seen as critical for our ability to compete globally and maintain a healthy economy.  The National Center for Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) has estimated [...]

As reported in Inside Higher Ed, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given funds to an effort to stimulate the potential development of linked databases that might someday allow us to track individual students through their education pathway even if they move from state to state.  Currently, this is not only impossible but has [...]

I have made several posts referencing the work of Peter Ewell. Mr. Ewell wrote an article in the November-December 2008 publication of Change, titled “No Correlation: Musings on Some Myths About Quality.
Mr. Ewell leads off with “For an enterprise dedicated to truth, American higher education harbors a lot of myths.” He then [...]

I first wrote about the problems in the 21st Century GI Bill last July. Well, the problems are finally getting some media attention.
When asked by the reporter for Inside Higher Ed who wrote this recent article why I thought that the bill included the disincentive for distance education, my response is that I don’t know.  [...]

A recent article claims that the current report of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) “challenges online learning assumptions.”  But this is not the first time that NSSE has documented that students in online programs report that they are very engaged in their learning, more so than their counterparts who participate in face-to-face programs.
I [...]

Recently the annual survey of online learning was released by the Sloan Consortium. The report shows continued growth in demand for online offerings despite the expectation of many, including the report’s authors, that demand would slow.
Institutions responding to the survey indicated that they believe current economic challenges will have a positive impact on overall [...]

An article posted to Inside Higher Ed reporting on this year’s results from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) indicates that many community college students are part of the other 85 percent of college students: the article correctly reports that “many more (students) at community colleges work, attend class part-time or have pressing [...]

I have posted several times about Transparency by Design, a consumer information and accountability initiative. Well, I have great news. This program was recently recognized by the Lumina Foundation for Education with a $629,000 grant.
This will allow the institutions involved in Transparency by Design the opportunity to expand our work. The initial public [...]

It is rewarding to see this article on Inside Higher Ed that students are “flocking online.” Having spent many years in various forms of distance learning and over a decade in online learning, it is interesting that many universities are just now dealing with the issues that flow from a change in delivery method.  And [...]

In a previous post, I questioned what Measuring Up actually measures and whether the message to state policymakers was off-base because it fails to acknowledge the contributions of cross-border online institutions, particularly in providing higher education opportunities to adults.  Clearly, those involved in Measuring Up understand that there are issues with data. Dennis Jones [...]