Heavy teaching loads, shrinking university budgets and expanding workload expectations have fueled stress and burnout among professors and other university employees in recent years. Now, an increasingly polarized political climate, as well as emerging concerns around university funding cuts, self-censorship and academic freedom, has created new pressures for university and college employees. The result is an academic profession caught in the crosscurrents […] … learn more→

The election of Donald Trump is undermining Harvard University’s business model. The university dominates the Shanghai rankings thanks to its scientific excellence, a foundation managing $53.2 billion, and a network of 420,000 alumni. Drawing on Bourdieu’s “capital theory,” a study seeks to understand how the most prestigious university dominates its scientific field. The Shanghai Rankings measure the […] … learn more→

American colleges and universities are increasingly firing or punishing professors and other employees for what they say, whether it’s on social media or in the classroom. After the Sept. 10, 2025, killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, several universities, including Iowa State University, Clemson University, Ball State University and others, fired or suspended employees for making negative online comments about Kirk. Some of […] … learn more→

If you’re deep in the throes of doctoral work, you’ve probably had that moment where someone asks you about your “contribution to knowledge” and you freeze up like a deer in headlights. You might have solid claims emerging from your research, but somehow articulating your actual contribution feels impossibly abstract. Claims and contributions are related […] … learn more→

How large is the population of students who are living in the U.S. without legal authorization? There are 408,000 undocumented students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities – that’s about 2% of the entire U.S. college population. California and Texas have the greatest number, with about 21% of all undocumented college students living in California and 14% in […] … learn more→

News that several New Zealand universities have given up using detection software to expose student use of artificial intelligence (AI) underlines the challenge higher education is facing. With AI tools such as ChatGPT now able to produce essays, reports and case studies in seconds, the old assessment model is breaking down. For decades, that model was valued […] … learn more→

Texas A&M University announced the resignation of its president, Mark A. Welsh III, on Sept. 18, 2025, following a controversial decision earlier in the month to fire a professor over a classroom exchange with a student about gender identity. The university – a public school in College Station, Texas – fired Melissa McCoul, a children’s literature professor, […] … learn more→

Endless economic expansion isn’t sustainable. Scientists are telling us our planet is already beyond its limits, with the risks to communities and the economy made clear in the federal government’s recent climate risk assessment. Sustainability is a hot topic in Australian business schools. However, teaching about the possible need to limit economic growth – whether directly or […] … learn more→

The number of international students on U.S. campuses is estimated to have declined by 150,000 this fall due to policies implemented by the Trump administration. This reversal of fortune will weigh heavily on campuses and their local economies. It’s the time when students are returning to college, and like every year, campuses across the United […] … learn more→

As an education researcher who has studied the economic returns of higher education, I know that college degrees remain cost-effective investments for most students. But college tuition has risen at roughly twice the rate of inflation during the past two decades, and federal student debt climbed 500% to US$1.6 trillion during that same period. The Biden administration sought to address this problem with plans that accelerated […] … learn more→