Insights & Outlooks
It’s Time to Change the Model for Regulating Educational Innovations
Change is inevitable. In the world of technologies, innovations come faster than we are able to follow. Think about what we can do now that we could not do ten years ago: smartphones are the norm (but they are really used more as cameras or computers than telephones), and high-speed internet is available for free…
Student Perspectives on Quality and Accountability
Washington D.C. policy experts, government officials, groups representing thousands of colleges nationwide, and dozens of other stakeholders have been debating how to evaluate and ensure the quality of educational programs and the government’s role in doing so for years. However, despite the high levels of time and money students invest in our po...
Collaboration in the Midst of Decentralization
In spite of having one of the country’s most decentralized higher education systems, New Mexico is not halting its progress towards improving higher education. The New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) oversees the state’s 31 public higher education institutions (institutions), registers and licenses all of the approximately 70 private...
Why Higher Education Needs a Quality Assurance Revolution
This year, U.S. student debt hit $1.5 trillion. Through federal student loans and grants, taxpayers underwrite the nation’s investment in higher education to the tune of $150 billion annually. But just one in three college students are confident they will graduate with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a workplace, and a…
Reimagining the Triad: What Role for Business in Higher Education Quality Assurance?
Debates surrounding quality in higher education have been building steady momentum since the formation, deliberation, and recommendations delivered by the Spellings Commission a decade ago. In its wake, Republican and Democratic policymakers alike— in D.C. and in state capitals—have started to challenge the accreditor definition of quality, int...
Squaring the Circle for Adult Learners: How to Connect Prior Learning with the Liberal Arts
With the increase of adult learners in today’s higher education landscape, currently 27% of the undergraduate population, it is essential that colleges and universities meet both the unique educational needs of adult learners and maintain curricular quality. Fortunately, these two goals are neither mutually exclusive, nor are they incongruent wit...
Renewing the Higher Education Accountability Coalition
Accountability is easy in the abstract. That’s true at the national level, it’s true at the state-level and it’s true at every college and university. When we keep it vague, the accountability coalition is a big tent. Everyone in public life favors ambitious goals and sensible reforms. But when you get down to the hard…
National Poll: How Well Do Americans Really Know Today’s Students?
How well do we Americans really know today’s students? The answer will surprise you. Last week, we released the results of a national opinion poll and a special edition of Education Insider looking at just how well the general public and policymakers understand the shifting demographics of higher education. Overall, while the public is gen...