For Golden State's Public Colleges, No Silver Bullet

A higher-education system once admired for its quality, access, and affordability is now hobbled by budget cuts and booming demand. 

Doing More With Less at Cal State

Since the recession began, state financial support for the California State University system has dropped, then risen, then plunged. Two tables show the details.

If Prop 30 Fails, What Then?

To save higher education in California, a tax referendum needs to pass in November. And lawmakers are also hoping for a tax windfall from Facebook options. After that, not...

Tying Lawmakers' Hands in Calif.

Over the past 79 years, California voters helped shape the current higher-education-spending crisis.

Shrink My Board, Please

Some colleges have decided that fewer is better when it comes to the trustee count.

The Future of Peer Review in the Humanities? It's Open

Nobody likes the current system, and most everybody agrees it should move online, but from there, opinions diverge.

Push for Open Access to Publicly Financed Research Swells Abroad

The debate goes global, with policy makers in Britain, the Continent, and Australia signaling a warming trend.

Real-Time Data Show 2-Year Colleges What Employers Need Now

Community colleges are using new software to get a glimpse of the labor market.

U.S. Program Enourages Foreign Female Students to Dream Big

The State Department effort brought 20 women to Saint Mary's College, in Indiana.

China Puts Out the Welcome Mat

The country is hoping to draw half-a-million foreign students to its shores by 2020.

Foreign Scientists and U.S. Policy Makers Seek Ways Around Visa Stalemate

Even academic entrepreneurs preparing to take their new scientific breakthroughs to market find it difficult, if not impossible, to stay in the country legally.

Top Executive at U. of Virginia Resigns in Wake of Leadership Crisis

Michael Strine, executive vice president and chief operating officer, drew criticism after the president's forced resignation.

5 Professors Join Vanderbilt's Bid to Bridge Health and Society

The university's growing Center for Medicine, Health, and Society has just hired its first full-time faculty members.

Transitions: Administration Official to Return to Harvard; Temple U. Appoints New President

Cass R. Sunstein, Obama's regulatory chief, is going back to being a law professor. Read about that and other job-related news.

A Delicate Operation for an Ex-Surgeon: Leading a Young Business School

Bernard T. Ferrari, once a surgeon and corporate strategist, is leading the Johns Hopkins' business school, which emphasizes management of health-care industries.

In Struggling South Texas, a New Fund Raiser Focuses on Alumni

Veronica Gonzales, a vice president at the University of Texas-Pan American, sees private giving as one way to make up for the loss of state support.

Transitions: Alexander Doty, Expert on Gay Culture, Dies at 58; Other Notable Deaths

Mr. Doty, the author of books on queer film theory and gay culture, died of injuries he suffered when he was hit by a motorcycle.

Selected New Books on Higher Education

Does Religion Really Poison Everything?

A new science of religion says God has gotten a bad rap.

Scholars, Spies, and Global Studies

It took a world war to propel Americans to make a serious commitment to global study. Now we have the time and the need to do it more deliberately.

Hoover, Reagan, and Spying at Berkeley

For decades the agency claimed it was protecting the nation. The author's FOIA requests show different.

A Healthy Mania for the Macabre

Death is on exhibit in a futuristically old-fashioned way. What makes us want to buy tickets?

The New Aesthetic of 'Aww'

Let's get over the sublime. It's the cute we should be thinking about.

Ghost Campus

In summer a campus reboots; students are only an afterthought.

The Life of Leisure

"The most intriguing aspect of the article is that its main argument ends up in a paradox."

The Vanishing Conservative Intellectual

"There is plenty of intellectual thought on the right."

Don't Confuse Technology with Teaching

Though universities are rushing to embrace online courses, true education requires one mind engaging with another.

Why Online Education Won't Replace College

Massive Open Online Courses raise complications.

Making Sure Learning Takes Place

A writing instructor gives a student an F for a paper on which she had help, and learns something in the process.

Fix the Remediation Problem Before It Starts

"Our task force on remediation will determine how New York's colleges, schools, community partners, and government officials can best collectively address our needs."

Gates Symbolizes What's Wrong With Education Reform

"Because he is wealthy and successful (if the accumulation of wealth guarantees a person's "success"), he is accepted as an expert on anything that he chooses to talk...

Governance? It's in the Hands of Corporate Elites

"Things are so far gone that talk of shared governance is at this point idle. It is in effect peasants appealing to the czars."

Embrace Your Inner North Dakotan

In searching for your first job, persuade yourself to appreciate different—not "lower"—standards.