USA Today’s Wendy Puriefoy is hoisting the banner for education in election 2008 in “Missing in Campaign ‘08: The Education Candidate.” She counted the number of times education was even mentioned in the debates recently. Honestly, I don’t think she had to use more than one hand much less pull off her shoes and socks to keep count.

Puriefoy offers five questions that she’d like addressed in future debates (I don’t know about you, but I’m already getting sick of debates. I think there have been at least 92, jk =). While she is interested in K-12, we’re interested in higher ed, so here are the five questions that I’d like the candidates to address about college education in the next of the 100 or more debates that we undoubtedly have coming:

1. How much money actually goes into subsidies for banks providing student loans and what do those institutions do with that money? (more…)

I love when the government tries to improve education. Over the past few years, Uncle Sam has either created or funded a number of programs to help revamp math and science instruction throughout the nation. The Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are two notable examples.

As a former educator, I’m glad to see such a widespread effort. Improving education certainly deserves to sit atop the government’s ‘to-do’ list, and additional financial support definitely should be allocated to the endeavor when possible. As an historian, however, I must say that I’m a little disappointed. Here’s why.

Common Core, a research institution dedicated to advancing liberal arts and humanities in public schools, recently asked 1,200 high school students a series of multiple-choice questions on various historical and literary topics. While the survey represents only a segment of our nation’s young students, and doesn’t account for the ‘guess factor,’ the results are a little disturbing. (more…)

Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t they?

It’s what all the cool kids are doing, right? Check out some of our favorite stories from the world of higher ed blogging, as of last week:

Higher Ed Watch talks us off the ledge after overeager journalists proclaim the death of the Stafford loan, thanks to general economic crappiness. If you were panicking, consider the post your paper bag to breathe into.

JuicyCampus, which as far as an old fogey like myself can tell is a definitive effort to inject high school immaturity into college, has invaded the Ivies. That’s right, now you can discover that Cornell is apparently full of [British slang for cigarette]. No, I’m not linking to them, out of good old-fashioned moral outrage. But HackCollege told me, and now I’m telling you, but don’t tell anyone! It’ll be our secret.

If you follow techie stuff at all, you will have some sort of opinion on the Blackboard lawsuit, in which the giant educational software company is suing a smaller competitor for patent infringement. They’ve now got a Texas jury on their side (but not many others, according to Inside Higher Ed).

A scary trend fostered by the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois: A new Penn State student group called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is using the incidents to argue that they should be allowed to carry guns to class. Because, you know, nothing stops gun violence like adding more guns.

It’s time to wrap up the election talk. I’ve already covered our final three contestants (McCain, Obama, and Clinton) in this year’s Election 2008. Mike Huckabee is still hanging around, but we’ve already talked about him. Mitt Romney dropped out. In Massachusetts, he came up with a scholarship to reward the top 25% of students in Massachusetts, but if that would have translated nationally, we’ll never know. The libertarian, statist maverick, Ron Paul, has a few solutions. (more…)

My grandpa used to tell me that nothing is free. And if you happen to find something with that eye-popping four-letter word emblazoned on its surface, you’re likely to get exactly what you paid for.

A handful of private universities across the country are hoping to prove my pappy wrong. In an attempt to lure lower and middle class students through its doors, Stanford University has announced a plan to waive tuition for undergraduates whose families earn less than $100,000 per year. In addition, those whose families gross less than $60,000 will be eligible to receive free room & board. Harvard University voiced a similar plan in December, cutting tuition by almost half, and charging lower and middle class students only a percentage of their family’s annual income. Though slightly different, both Holy Cross and Clark University are offering free tuition to local students who live in low-income neighborhoods.

So how does this impact education in our country as a whole? (A recent post by our resident muse might give us a clue.) Let’s look at a couple of possibilities: (more…)

Just a quick post today to highlight a new study released by the Brookings Institution, reporting that increasing gaps in higher education are widening the gulf between the lower and middle economic classes. The New York Times summarizes the findings:

The authors of the study, by scholars at the Brookings Institution in Washington and sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts, warned that widening gaps in higher education between rich and poor, whites and minorities, could soon lead to a downturn in opportunities for the poorest families.

Entry into professional careers, the primary path to a middle-class life, increasingly requires a bachelor’s degree. And despite affirmative action and new financial aid incentives, poor and minority students still aren’t getting to (or staying in) college in the same numbers that affluent, primarily white and Asian students are.

Can online education help with this phenomenon? Can we use it to increase access, or does the digital divide still create barriers?

It’s good to get back on track this week with a candidate that is actively thinking about college education. According to Hillary Clinton’s Web site, her plans include creating a $3500 college tax credit, investing $500 million dollars into community colleges, developing “a graduation fund to increase college graduation rates,” and increasing the Pell Grant’s maximum.

Like Obama and Edwards (when he was in the race), Clinton wants to simplify the financial aid application process. She also wants to hold colleges accountable for their costs by setting up a cost index and by having a “truth in tuition disclosure.” Lastly, she wants to challenge selective colleges to expand access to low-income students.

Perhaps I didn’t spend enough time praising Obama for being thorough (although I did write two posts about him). Quite frankly, I don’t know what Clinton is talking about for a number of her points. (more…)

Since the immortal Charles Darwin traveled the high seas on the Beagle, the concept of evolution has been a mainstay in the realm of science. Though other great minds published ideas on the subject as well, Darwin’s theory of natural selection received the most praise from the scientific and academic communities. Of his theory, the English naturalist wrote:

I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term Natural Selection.

Today, evolution seems to be ‘taboo’ in the world of education. School districts across the country are still debating whether or not Darwin’s theories should be taught to middle-schoolers in life science classes. Many people fail to realize, however, that evolutionary theories can be extremely useful when applied to non-biological subjects, especially the study of social and cultural institutions. Therefore, with respect to Mr. Darwin, let’s take a look at how postsecondary education has evolved since its inception during the Middle Ages. (more…)

We’ve come a long way since Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Centipede ruled the day. Over the last 30 years, video games have grown almost as fast as Jack’s beanstalk, sprouting a pair of mushroom killing plumbers, a half-dressed woman who hunts for long lost relics, and even an entire Internet-based world filled with warlocks, mages, and ogres vying for virtual supremacy.

Since the creation of Atari in 1972, parents, teachers, and even writers have condemned the use of video games as a source of entertainment. Noted author Ray Bradbury once stated in an interview,

Video games are a waste of time for men with nothing else to do.

With that said, let’s pinpoint some of the negatives many of the critics tout: (more…)