Monthly Archives: August 2015

The “good news” on student debt is not really all that good

Writing for the Huffington Post, Shahien Nasiripour reports that “Borrowing for College Is Set to Hit a Five Year Low.” More specifically, for the first time since the 2009-2010 academic year, student loans are likely to total less than $100 million. That sounds like good news. But it actually reflects very little change. In fact, […] … learn more→

Higher Education as Ponzi scheme

I’ve often written of the plight of the adjunct professor in higher education. I’m most fortunate to not have been in this boat (although it may be my future), one doesn’t have to walk a mile in an adjunct’s shoes to see there’s a problem. Nevertheless, someone who’s actually lived as an adjunct will have […] … learn more→

Universities can keep their money,just tax them

Victor Fleischer wrote a New York Times op-ed today pointing out the absurdity of Yale’s endowment paying more in fees to hedge fund managers than student assistance. He proposed that given the rate at which endowments grow, colleges should be required to spend a larger percentage of their endowment on improving the schools and helping […] … learn more→

‘Serious academics’ at play

As we get ready for the academic year to begin (or, in some cases, are already in the first week or two of the fall semester), folks have been posting or reposting some great advice for new faculty members and their mentors. For example, last week Tanya Golash-Boza published on Vitae a smart piece titled […] … learn more→

Turning a page: downsizing the campus book collections

When, in 2005, the University of Chicago entered into a US$81 million renovation of a major library building, one of the primary goals was to ensure that the university’s collection of printed books in the social sciences and humanities would remain under one roof. That goal was achieved six years later. However, it also meant […] … learn more→

Does assessment make Colleges better? Let me count the ways

Erik Gilbert’s recent commentary\”Does Assessment Make Colleges Better? Who Knows?\” raises an important question about the value of assessment. As one who has worked in education for 15 years and dutifully assessed learning in his classes, Gilbert now wonders if that measurement has been a worthwhile use of time. He’s not certain that the tweaks […] … learn more→

Colleges scam the working class

I maintain that much of higher education today is a scam, fleecing the young in particular, but affecting all who have been raised from early childhood to believe that college is the only path to achieve a life of riches and respectability. An article advances the case that colleges are particularly scamming the working class, […] … learn more→

These 3 words are the telltale sign of a rubbish script

There are actually, in my experience, two giveaways for crummy screenplays or teleplays. The first is the extent to which characters address each other by name. If  you’re writing dialogue with no ear for actual speech, it sort of makes sense to put down lines like “This isn’t about the money, Brian,” or “I long […] … learn more→

Will a new teacher loan assistance bill solve anything?

Earlier this month, legislators in the House and Senate introduced TELORA, a bipartisan bill to improve the confusing patchwork of federal loan programs for teachers. The new proposal implicitly seeks to streamline existing programs and has the explicit purpose “to encourage highly qualified individuals to enter and continue in the teaching profession, and to ensure […] … learn more→