Supporting local economic and civic projects is a central part of the mission for community colleges that rely on voter approval for funding. In Kansas, for example, voters elect the six members of their community college's board of trustees, which levies taxes to pay for the school's operating expenses. Residents, however, can challenge the board's […]
Is enterprise risk management worth the effort? What's gained by evaluating top risks across an entire college or university? A recent survey of 921 higher education leaders found a "conflicted" attitude toward comprehensive risk programs. Academic leaders say that ERM is an institutional priority, yet many of them don't follow through. At Grinnell, we examined […]
Have net price calculators, merit scholarships and tuition discounts rendered sticker price meaningless? Not according to numerous surveys on the topic. The findings of three separate surveys over the past two years on the topic of cost and decision to apply suggest that students and parents give strong consideration to advertised price. A 2012 studentPOLL […]
Financial aid is in a state of flux, but an institution's size and selectivity offer clues to what kind of student assistance gets prioritized. Some public flagships and less-selective private schools are using increased merit aid to lure higher achievers from more prestigious private schools, while some highly selective colleges and universities are phasing out […]
At a time when the gulf between liberals and conservatives seems to be wider than ever, there is one topic about which they agree: the reasons for the rising cost of a college education. Why do colleges and universities keep raising tuition, asks Timothy Noah in The New Republic? Because they can. And Allysia Finley […]
There's a standard practice in academia that's highly valued; yet, at many colleges and universities, the policies and procedures surrounding it haven't changed in decades. Until now. The faculty sabbatical has been around since Harvard University first offered it to its teaching staff in 1880. Since then, sabbaticals have become a rite of passage for […]
First-year MBA students in the action-based degree program at University of Michigan's Ross School of Business spend seven weeks working with a U.S. or international company. After that, they form seven-member teams to propose a solution to a problem they encountered in the corporate world. But this learning process isn't just about the instruction—it's also […]
Quick, what business makes more money than the NFL yet pays most of its workers next to nothing? The answer is college sports, which according to a ruling handed down last month by federal judge Claudia Wilken, should indeed be recognized as a business. College sports generate $10.5 billion in revenue, the bulk of it […]
The U.S. economy has been through major changes in the last several years, and the effects are being felt on campus. In many cases, this turmoil shows up publicly in the form of a credit-rating downgrade. On some campuses, a change in the credit rating has no effect on the day-to-day operations; on others, it […]
"Don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness." This rallying cry against the "let's do as we always did" approach has helped the digital professionals take their seat at the decision table in many institutions. Yet this unorthodox advice may have been embraced too literally in the social media field. It's no wonder that some enthusiastic […]
