Nearly a year ago, "NEJHE" launched its "New Directions for Higher Education" series to examine emerging issues, trends, and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs, and practices. In this installment, DiSalvio interviews Muriel A. Howard, president of the American Association of State Colleges and…

American higher education absorbs a larger share of GDP than that of other countries, but it has not produced a particularly high proportion of college graduates. College graduation rates are actually worse than the very low benchmark of high school graduation rates, but higher education institutions are not held accountable. The author writes…

The land grant colleges, funded by federal legislation in 1862, spawned public institutions in each state. The principal motivation for this funding was to create schools where practical education could be disseminated to the working classes. An example of the land grant school experience is revealed in the history of Oregon State University.…

The crisis of affordability in higher education is intensifying. Illustrations of its resonance abound: from the frequent news articles describing and amplifying the crisis and its sources to legislators' and candidates' proposed responses. Republicans' responses tend to be mainly punitive toward institutions; Democrats' proposals are more…

All institutions of higher education receive support from different combinations of patrons holding different expectations about the rewards of their patronage. In fact, much of what goes on in colleges and universities is the result of accommodation of the interests of governmental, industrial, and philanthropic patrons mediated through the…

There is an increasingly popular view of government to shift costs of education formerly borne at the national level to the states, and the states, in turn to shift costs and risks to individuals that has created a "perfect storm" of economic and political trends. The idea of privatizing a portion of Social Security and the continuing press for…

Financing issues associated with the evolution of Argentina's national universities, 1960-90, are examined. Major trends in student population, faculty, and government spending are outlined, the teaching and research market is discussed, and several proposals to ease constraints are presented and analyzed for feasibility. (Author/MSE)

Thirty years of federal student aid have increased the chances that low-income individuals will go to college, but the gap in college attendance between low- and high-income families has not changed much. Academic underpreparation among low-income groups, more federal student aid for the middle class, and rising tuition at state institutions…

This report describes the effects of the recession in the early 1990s on institutions of higher education in California including large budget cuts, student tuition increases, enrollment reduction of 200,000, growth in student loans, and lack of state policy. This report recommends that a new compact between the state, the colleges and…