This article develops a two way of a scholarship of practice for independent college and university presidents: one loop from practitioners to researchers and the other loop from researchers to practitioners. We used the results of survey completed by presidents of independent institutions in California, New York, and Tennessee to develop this…

In the 1980s, leaders recognized a small set of institutions enrolled a large percentage of Latino students but had limited resources to educate these students. The classification of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) formally recognized these institutions for capacity-building and other support. Federal law defines HSIs as accredited,…

Living-learning communities combine curricular, co-curricular, and residential components of college life. They are a relatively new variation on the residential education that has been part of the undergraduate experience at America's independent colleges and universities for centuries. Research suggests that living-learning communities have a…

This paper identifies approaches, challenges, and best practices related to planning and designing today's academic library learning spaces. As part of the Project Information Literacy (PIL) Practitioner Series, qualitative data is presented from 49 interviews conducted with a sample of academic librarians, architects, and library consultants.…

Postsecondary institutions are under increasing scrutiny to provide evidence of student learning. Despite efforts to increase the number and frequency of assessments of student learning, many colleges and universities need help to make good use of assessment results for the improvement of teaching and learning. To address this need, in February…

The Open Academic Analytics Initiative (OAAI) is a collaborative, multi-year grant program aimed at researching issues related to the scaling up of learning analytics technologies and solutions across all of higher education. The paper describes the goals and objectives of the OAAI, depicts the process and challenges of collecting, organizing and…

A baccalaureate degree is essential to success in the contemporary United States. The degree offers improved economic security and the development of capabilities such as critical thinking, effective communication, quantitative reasoning, creativity, problem solving, personal and social responsibility, and social and cultural capital. Failure to…

Because of their commitment to the voluntary measurement and improvement of student learning outcomes, colleges and universities that are members of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) have been at the forefront of the national shift from teacher-centered to student-centered learning. The institutions participating in the CIC Degree…

Relatively little is known about the presumably thousands of branch campuses and centers represented among U.S. higher education institutions. In an effort to fill this void, the research committee of the National Association of Branch Campus Administrators (NABCA) conducted a web-based survey targeting the leaders of branch campuses and…

As this report goes to press, the nation's capital is in the midst of a six-moth, city-wide celebration of William Shakespeare. With this celebration as a backdrop, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) researched how Shakespeare fits into English curricula at 70 of the nation's leading colleges and universities. ACTA surveyed English…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

This E.D. TAB presents selected findings about the price of attendance and the types and amounts of financial aid received by in-state undergraduates enrolled in public 2-year, public 4-year, and private not-for-profit 4-year institutions during the 2003-04 academic year in 12 selected states. It is based on the undergraduate data in the 2003-04…

This paper analyzes the negative effects on private colleges of state subsidies provided to state-run colleges, noting the increasing proportion of students attending public colleges and the closing of more than 300 private colleges between 1969-70 and 1992-93. It urges legislators to eliminate direct subsidies to universities, to require…

An overview of an ongoing study of state policies and private postsecondary education is presented. It is suggested that higher education should be viewed in the context of a state's practices in other human service policy areas (e.g., social and health services). Three types of state policy postures are emphasized: laissez-faire, market…

Results of a study concerning the relationships between state policies and private college enrollments, enrollment demographics, and finance are presented. After considering national enrollment trends in the independent sector, attention is directed to the impacts on private colleges of state fiscal policies, including aid to private colleges and…