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Higher-education officials want protection against tighter state budgets in years ahead FEARING that good economic times might soon wane, college officials across the United States will urge their state lawmakers [...]

Issues discussed concern Alabama's referendum to broaden access to college by establishing a merit-based scholarship program funded by lotteries. Topics addressed include the distribution of lottery revenue between 2-year and 4-year colleges, guidelines for the granting of scholarships, and public opinion for the proposal.

Chancellor Charles B. Reed is creating controversy with faculty and staff by taking a business-oriented approach and promoting accountability at the California State University and College System. Reed's no-nonsense approach to improving the system is not accepting of excuses or surprises. His system-wide plan calls for improving the quality of education and programs that make student needs a focus of planning decisions.

The University of Phoenix, a for-profit university, has expanded to neighboring states. It has built campuses in 13 states, British Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The university plans to move into New Jersey after avoiding the East because of rigid regulations. It has proposed to offer six degree programs in business.

The Americorps service program was created as a result of President Bill Clinton's legislation to create a national-service program. The budget for the program is $425.5 mil annually, but many contend it has fallen well short of its promise to extend educational opportunities to thousands of students. However, the program has preserved 28,000 acres of public land, immunized 45,000 children, and recruited over 300,000 volunteers.

Pennsylvania's sprawling higher education system is under increasing scrutiny by lawmakers who want to make university management practices more efficient, centralized, and cooperative. The goal of the reorganization is to equitably serve the educational needs of all regions in the state.

Small private colleges are preparing for their toughest challenge from big-name competitors. College officials fear students who enroll in part-time degree programs will find distance-education programs inexpensive and convenient. Other private-college officials contend they face increased competition, but are unconcerned since their enrollments continue to grow.

President Angelo Armeti, Jr, of California University of Pennsylvania is receiving complaints that his approach to eradicate sexual harassment on the campus without any evidence has left the faculty divided. Faculty members complain that professors have been fired only on the basis of student complaints. An outside arbitrator has agreed that the president has gone overboard and has ordered that those professors be reinstated.

William Morrow, 2016. $25.99. 320 pp. As tuition has risen and students have assumed larger debts, a national debate has arisen about the value of postsecondary education. Jeffrey Selingo brings [...]

As states push for expanded academic programs, are they abandoning hands-on training? ELIZABETHTOWN, KY. IN A LOCKER-LINED HALLWAY inside Elizabethtown Technical College, students recently daydreamed aloud about $11-an-hour jobs at [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO After nearly four decades at the American Council on Education, where he became one of the nation's most quoted experts on higher education, Sheldon E. Steinbach, vice [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a lobbying-reform bill last week that requires more public disclosure about earmarks, but falls short of somewhat tougher standards already [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO and JEFFREY BRAINARD As in the country as a whole, class distinctions have always existed in higher education. The Harvards, Michigans, and Grinnells have long snagged the [...]

Byline: STEPHEN BURD and JEFFREY SELINGO Washington -- If higher-education officials have their way, their concerns about the availability of public funds and college access will be as familiar to [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO Washington -- The clock is ticking for colleges to comply with a new federal regulation designed to tackle the challenges institutions face in adhering to nondiscrimination laws [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO Education Management Corporation, which enrolls 72,000 students on 72 campuses in 24 states, agreed to sell itself last week to two private equity firms for $3.4-billion, becoming [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO and ELIZABETH SCHWINN A presidential panel proposed a vast overhaul of the federal tax system last week that includes recommendations to eliminate the Clinton-era Hope and Lifetime [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO Washington -- A broad coalition of higher-education lobbyists went to Capitol Hill last week to ask Senate aides to remember colleges when putting together a relief package [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO Three out of four unemployed workers who receive job training through a multibillion-dollar federal program enroll in classroom instruction. Even so, little is known about the quality [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO The competition among colleges for students is growing just as quickly as the number of high-school graduates and adults returning to school, and institutions need to be [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO The College Board endorsed the continued use of the PSAT as a qualifying exam for National Merit Scholarships last week, despite concerns that the awards go disproportionately [...]

Byline: JAMILAH EVELYN and JEFFREY SELINGO President Bush's plan to eliminate vocational- and technical-education funds for community colleges got a cool reception last week from Democrats, as well as a [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO Washington -- Jordan J. Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, earned $896,836 in total compensation in 2003, making him the highest-paid chief executive of [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO In early August, on the third anniversary of President Bush's announcement that he would limit federal funds for research using embryonic stem cells, Sen. John Kerry's presidential [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO Philadelphia -- Every fall they arrive in droves: young, bright, idealistic college graduates who think they will be the ones to change failing inner-city schools. Nancy Ridings [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO Boston -- A little-noticed provision in a federal higher-education law that requires colleges to make a 'good-faith effort' to provide voter-registration materials to students is about to [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO A front-page article in USA Today about college costs, invoked by President Bush's re-election campaign to criticize Sen. John Kerry's higher-education agenda, is causing a stir among [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO For the third time since November, the Board of Trustees for the University of Illinois system has punted on whether to retire the Urbana-Champaign campus's controversial mascot, [...]

Byline: MICHAEL ARNONE, ERIC HOOVER, JEFFREY SELINGO, and WELCH SUGGS Washington -- Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, who was buried last week, had an often-adversarial [...]

Byline: JEFFREY SELINGO A provision in a pension bill signed by President Bush this month may put a stop to a class-action lawsuit against several groups that back the system [...]

Byline: STEPHEN BURD and JEFFREY SELINGO President Bush has proposed putting a time limit on how long students may use Pell Grants, in order to free up money for a [...]