Tag: higher education
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Pass/fail grading is a participation trophy in adult clothing
Pass/fail grading sounds like enlightened pedagogy, but the structure consistently rewards the median and punishes high effort. Here’s what the research shows.
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For-profit colleges are scams and accreditors enable them
For-profit colleges have been documented to mislead students, saddle them with debt, and produce poor outcomes. Accreditors keep certifying them anyway.
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Federal student loans caused tuition inflation, full stop
Tuition tripled in real terms while loans expanded freely. The economics aren’t subtle: easy money produced rising prices, and the Bennett hypothesis was right.
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Need-blind admissions is a marketing claim, not a policy
Need-blind admissions sounds rigorous and is largely promotional. Here’s what colleges actually do, and why the gap between claim and practice is wide.
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The four-year degree should be killed and replaced with three
The four-year bachelor’s is a historical accident, not a learning requirement. A three-year degree saves money, time, and student burnout without losing rigor.
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Admissions consulting is legal cheating and Ivy League schools love it
Elite admissions consulting costs more than tuition and bends the rules without breaking them. The Ivies know exactly what’s happening — and benefit from it.
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Financial aid offers are deliberately confusing because schools profit from it
College financial aid letters mix grants, loans, and work-study without clear labels. The confusion isn’t a bug — it inflates net tuition by design.
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Humanities departments earned their decline
Humanities enrollment is collapsing and the field blames everything but itself. Here’s the case that the decline reflects choices the discipline made.
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Harvard’s endowment should be taxed like a corporation
Harvard’s $50 billion endowment operates like a hedge fund with a school attached. The current 1.4% excise tax is a token. Here’s the case for treating it as what it is.
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Campus free speech is in worse shape than activists on either side admit
Campus speech debates are louder than ever, but the actual climate on college campuses is more troubled than partisans on either side want to acknowledge.