The Other 85 Percent

Richard Vedder, a member of the Spellings Commission, has recently written this commentary in which he calls for colleges to become more transparent. Among the things he calls for are measures of learning outcomes, student engagement, and research with alumni to assess how successful they are. He describes transparency as “vital in evaluating [...]

I recently attended a higher education conference where the head of a large state university system talked candidly about the impact of online education on public universities and public research universities, in particular. It was a frank and thoughtful assessment of the issues confronting these institutions.

I have been following the presidential candidates and hoped that, per this article, Senator Obama had addressed higher education. However, the text of the speech reveals that this was about K-12, and references to either TRIO or GEAR UP was made in passing. Hopefully, as the campaign heats up over the next several [...]

Last week the higher education media reported on an important publication by Cliff Adelman, who has been cited previously in this blog.
Article 1
Article 2

Response to comment by Janet Duke to the post “What is the risk in colleges and universities being more transparent / accountable”
First, thanks for posting the New York Times article.  Second, I chose to wait to reply until after the annual meeting of the Higher Learning Commission in Chicago that took place over the past [...]

This article by Nancy C. Rodriquez in University Business lays out the problems facing college transfer students in Kentucky.  In an earlier posting, I referenced Kentucky’s desire to increase the number of college graduates in that state.  Kudos to Kentucky for this, a desire that is shared by many other states. 

The premise of The Other 85 Percent is that public opinion and public policy making regarding higher education still focus on what is now a distinct minority of higher education students. That minority is the student who goes directly from high school to study full-time on a traditional campus. Too little attention is [...]

Judith Eaton offers an interesting projection about what the ultimate impact will be of the current call for greater higher education accountability. While her view may be a bit extreme, it captures the dilemma of what to do when the public presses for increased information and transparency from colleges and universities. If information is provided, [...]

An earlier post to this blog dealt with Transparency by Design, an effort by a dozen higher education institutions – Capella University included – that serve adult students at a distance to publicly report on what those students will actually learn.  Recently, Bob Morse of U.S. News & World Report, commented on Transparency by Design [...]

Here is yet another article that details the need to help more adults complete a college degree, the importance of having a better educated citizenry, and some of the challenges facing states in promoting this agenda.
However, the situation is complicated by the fact that states, including those seeking to get more adults to graduate, are [...]