Filed under Public Policy …

How Biden’s New Vaccination Policy Affects Colleges

Thousands of colleges could be subject to a new federal rule mandating Covid-19 vaccination or testing for large private-sector employers, the Biden administration announced on Thursday. The Department of Labor’s emergency, temporary rule will require all employees of businesses with 100 or more workers to be vaccinated or to be tested weekly. That mandate will cover more … Continue reading →

State Gives Up On Public Schools, Turns To Community Colleges

Apparently teaching kids to read and do math is not being done very well by the North Carolina public schools system. And the state legislature is considering giving up on the public schools to educate children and turning over the responsibility to the community colleges, which, according to statistics, are doing a lot of it … Continue reading →

Students Ask Education Department to Discharge College Debt

Almost 12,000 students are asking the federal government to discharge their college loan debt, asserting that their school either closed or lied to them about job prospects, according to government data released Thursday. Already, claims totaling about $40 million in loans have been approved. That’s only a fraction of the potential cost to taxpayers if … Continue reading →

Academic Freedom is Under Threat Across The World

Academic freedom needs to be defended from government, commercial and religious pressure. A simple enough statement. Surely stating the bleedin’ obvious? Does it really need to be said, and aren’t those battles already won? Well, it turns out that yes, it does, and no, they aren’t. Those threats appear to be looming large in states … Continue reading →

What the Landmark Ruling on Gay Marriage Means for Higher Education

…Christian colleges across the nation — many of which forbid same-sex relationships among students and faculty members — said they faced an uncertain future, with the decision potentially affecting their tax-exempt status, accreditation, student-housing policies, and ability to admit and hire people based on religious convictions. This month more than 70 educational institutions, including evangelical … Continue reading →

Free Community College Could Cost More Than We Think

When I taught consumer finance to law students and consumer advocates, I always warned my students about “free” financial products. Few things, I told them, are truly free. Every time my students saw the word free, I urged them to focus on the three “C’s”: costs; catches and consequences. One or more of these three … Continue reading →

Adjunct Advocacy

Academe’s part-time instructors have long complained about low pay and poor working conditions, and now their protests are finally being heard. By joining together in labor unions, part-time instructors at several colleges have managed in recent years to win major improvements in their pay, benefits, job security, and overall working conditions. And even where they … Continue reading →

Unions Need to Step Up for Equality

Last fall an adjunct professor, who wishes to remain anonymous, created a Facebook page titled “National Adjunct Walkout Day” and posted the following: “On February 25, 2015, adjuncts across the country will come together to insist on fair wages and better working conditions.” Since 2000, various faculty and union groups have participated in Campus Equity … Continue reading →

Another Republican Governor Proposes Big Cuts in Higher Education

Add another state to the list of budgetary showdowns playing out between Republican governors and higher education. First there was Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker proposed dealing with a $2-billion deficit by giving the public-university system more autonomy and, in exchange, cutting $300-million in state funding over two years. Then a close examination of Mr. … Continue reading →