Current Issue

News and Commentary

• A Psychologist's Shift in Direction Results in a Research Award

  Laurence Steinberg, a professor of psychology whose work influenced a Supreme Court decision, won a generous prize for his research on young people's behavior.

• 5 Minutes With the Linguist Who Worked on 'Avatar'

  A professor at the U. of Southern California who developed the "language" of the aliens in the movie describes how he did it.

• For-Profit Colleges Change Higher Education's Landscape

  No longer a sideshow, the sector's nimbleness has translated into faster growth than traditional colleges over the past three decades.

  • Interactive Map: Enrollment Growth at For-Profit Colleges, by State
  • Audio: Robin Wilson Shares Tales From the For-Profit Sector
  • Chart: Enrollment Growth at 10 For-Profit Colleges, 2008-9

• Improving Teaching Will Require Strategic Thinking

  "Improving instruction will require strategic and systematic work at all levels of the educational system."

• Private Giving to Colleges Dropped Sharply in 2009

  Donations were off by nearly 12 percent, the steepest one-year drop ever recorded by the Voluntary Support of Education survey.

  • Colleges Increasingly Look Abroad to Raise Funds
  • Charts: Giving to Colleges and Universities, 2008-9

• Serving as a 'Temp': The Challenge and Power of an Interim Presidency

  C. Peter Magrath came back to the president's post one more time to help West Virginia University overcome a scandal.

• Axia College: a 2-Year Institution That Hardly Acts Like One

  In just six years of existence, the University of Phoenix's two-year division has 200,000 students going for associate degrees.

• Q&A: What For-Profit Colleges Are All About

  A top official of Kaplan Higher Education defends the sector's actions and goals, and talks about the future.

• In a Booming California Suburb, Fertile Ground for For-Profit Colleges

  Near Sacramento, DeVry University and other providers see opportunity in the combination of a fast-growing population and cash-strapped public institutions.

• In Cutting Programs, Universities Try to Swing the Ax Gently

  Financially strapped institutions take into consideration feedback from professors and even alumni who rise up to protect what might need to be shorn.

• And the Academy Award Goes to ... a Computer Scientist

  Paul E. Debevec, of the University of Southern California, wins for his technical wizardry, now on display in "Avatar."

• Struggling Students Can Improve by Studying Themselves, Research Shows

  A teaching experiment at the City University of New York demonstrates that failing students can learn to succeed in courses that break down their faulty study habits.

  • Graphic: Error Messages

• Despite Spending Freeze, Obama Proposes More Money for Research in His 2011 Budget

  The president requested $66-billion for nondefense research and development projects, and a 4-percent increase in basic research funds.

• Setting Next Year's Tuition and Aid, Coping With Last Year's Decisions

  As private colleges weigh tuition and aid, they are hemmed in by the economy, and by last year's strategies, too.

• A Motion Picture of the Sky, With Free Admission for All Researchers

  An ambitious new telescope will map the universe and remap the way academic astronomers work, giving those at small and community colleges access to the data.

• Colleges Increasingly Look Abroad to Raise Funds

  Institutions that responded to a Chronicle survey brought in an average of 5.5 percent of their fund-raising revenue from international sources last year.

  • Table: International Fund-Raising by Higher-Education Institutions -- a Survey Snapshot

• More Colleges Coach Professors to Lead Trips Abroad

  Murray State University offers mandatory training combined with staff support before, during, and after each trip.

• Williams College Nixes No-Loan Student-Aid Policy After Endowment Falls

  The college will continue to give no-loan packages to the neediest students but will expect others to take on a moderate amount of debt.

• Japanese Students Abandon Studies for Job-Hunting Gantlet

  Already facing a faltering economy as they approach graduation, students must spend hundreds of hours trying to impress corporate recruiters.

• The Problem With Boys and the 9th-Grade Bulge

  Colleges are looking for male applicants in all the wrong places, writes Richard Whitmire.

• Why Ph.D.'s Should Teach in High Schools

  Todd Alexander Postol, Ph.D., teaches social studies to middle-schoolers. In this economy, the path to jobs like his should be made easier, he says.

• A President in the Classroom

  In nearly a decade as a college administrator, Marvin Krislov has chosen to teach at least one course a semester. He explains why.

• Notre Dame's Band Marches Into an Alt-Rock Video

  How did Notre Dame's marching band end up starring in a video with the band OK Go?

• Move Over, Schrödinger's Cat

  How a college professor's German shepherd became the world's most famous four-legged student of physics.