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The first Survey of Public Opinion on Higher Education shows that the United States' faith in the value of college remains strong, despite misgivings about some longstanding practices. (EV)

Explores the implications of the recent Supreme Court decision concerning race-conscious college admissions policies, including the continuing debate, college's admissions reactions, implications for race-exclusive scholarships, and student activism. Includes the complete text of the court's rulings. (EV)

Discusses how the Supreme Court will hear two cases involving racial preferences at the University of Michigan, with the fate of affirmative action in college admission in the balance. (EV)

Explores how social, legal, and demographic forces threaten to dethrone the most widely used college entrance exam. New criticism focuses on the use of what is essentially an IQ test to measure students' ability to learn. (EV)

Analyzes plans of some states (California, Florida, and Texas) to admit top high school graduates to public colleges and universities as a way to promote diversity without affirmative action programs. Critics claim such plans exploit educational segregation while doing nothing to improve schools, and may create inequities by denying admission to some achieving students while admitting other underprepared students. (DB)

Northeastern University's continuing-education division is being rejuvenated with market research, faculty involvement, and a non-traditional approach under its new vice president Christopher E. Hopey. The college shifted its emphasis from undergraduates to graduate and certificate programs aimed at working professionals, resulting in a 20 percent rise in enrollment and a 21 percent jump in tuition revenue.

Discusses why public colleges think their appropriations will rebound after the recession should think again. (EV)

Describes how Massachusetts' governor and the politically powerful head of the state university are grappling over a plan to revamp the system, reduce its budget, and do away with the president's job. (EV)

Describes how lawmakers in cash-strapped states--including California, Wisconsin, and Tennessee--are forcing public colleges into hiring freezes, tuition increases, and even cuts in research designed to spur economic development. (EV)

Describes how more regional public institutions are opening honors colleges to raise their profiles and attract better students. (EV)

Discusses how, while other governors slash higher education spending, Gray Davis of California is championing investment in colleges to spur economic growth in his state. (EV)

Describes how delivering on the promises of broad-based merit scholarships has been neither easy nor cheap. Problems with such programs, which offer scholarship money to in-state students who meet modest academic requirements, include skyrocketing costs, intense popularity with the public which makes change difficult, legal challenges, and many students' mediocre performance once enrolled. (EV)

Examines conflict in Texas over whether to increase appropriations for the state's two premier research universities, the University of Texas (Austin) and Texas A&M University, to match comparable institutions in other states, or whether to increase funding to raise the stature of Texas Tech University and the University of Houston. Compares state support of Texas institutions to California. (DB)

Asserts that state colleges, squeezed between research universities and community colleges, are falling even further behind due to pressure from legislators and growing competition from distance education and for-profit institutions. Discusses various issues in their decline and attempted makeovers, including faculty, "mission creep," declining student enrollment and retention, and lagging reputations. (EV)

Capitalizing on the ban on affirmative action in college admissions in Texas, a number of out-of-state colleges are aggressively recruiting in that state and offering generous financial aid packages. Oklahoma was one of the first states to do so. For many students, financial aid makes the difference in college attendance. (MSE)

Under pressure from governors and legislators to heighten academic rigor, technical colleges in several states are becoming part of higher education, whether they want to or not. With business leaders calling for better-educated workers, technical colleges are seen increasingly as stepping-stone institutions within higher education and key cogs in state economies. Some states see them as top spending priorities. (MSE)

Louisiana's program of state merit scholarships, inspired by Georgia's HOPE Scholarship program, is over budget in its first year because lawmakers pushed to expand eligibility and data for estimating costs was inadequate. Critics find such programs often provide aid to families with little financial need. The program pays full tuition at state institutions or partial tuition at private colleges. (MSE)

Many colleges in New Jersey are opposed to the for-profit University of Phoenix plan to offer six degree programs within that state. The university currently enrolls 50,000 on 87 campuses in 13 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico and has formally applied for licensing in this and three other northeastern states. Thirteen colleges operate within a 20-mile radius of the proposed location. (MSE)

After five years, the AmeriCorps program, a federal program designed to encourage youth to perform public service by providing substantial scholarships after completion, has been both praised as effective in getting things done and criticized as cost-ineffective. Some feel the money could have been better spent for federal grants or work-study programs. (MSE)

Small regional colleges are bracing for a battle to protect their profitable continuing-education programs from competition with distance-learning programs at research universities. Concern is particularly for part-time students who may choose distance programs that are less expensive, more convenient, and offer diplomas from better-known institutions. Other small-college officials say the fear is unwarranted. (MSE)

Three articles explore the controversy over whether to mitigate dwindling state support for higher education by charging a range of tuition rates based on students' ability to pay; also discussed is students' efforts to bring legal action to stop tuition increases. (EV)

Discusses how two affirmative action cases before the Supreme Court involving a public university (the University of Michigan) are expected to also affect private colleges in terms of admissions and financial aid. (EV)

Explores why California's ambitious new aid program, Cal Grants, misses its goals and shortchanges older students; millions in grants go unused while students complain of having eligibility taken away. (EV)

Describes how the for-profit University of Phoenix is attempting again to enter New Jersey, 3 years after withdrawing an application to operate there. This time, its plan focuses more on female and minority students. (EV)

Discusses efforts by colleges and legislatures to encourage undergraduates to finish in four years, as stretched budgets and anticipation of record enrollments spark efforts to return to tradition. (EV)

Describes how Florida's public liberal arts college, New College, is becoming a freestanding institution separated from the University of South Florida, but that independence may force a change in its mission. (EV)

Describes plans of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education to publish (Fall 2000) its evaluation of public and private colleges in all 50 states in terms of access, affordability, and economic and civic benefits. Critics claim higher education is too complex to grade, but proponents predict that "bad grades" will lead to public demand for improvements. (DB)

Describes a study grading all 50 states on how well they deliver higher education. The study examined public and private colleges, and ranked states in five categories. Results were mixed, but no state received all As, and some had several poor grades. Every state received an incomplete in the area of student learning because researchers thought the data were not adequate. (SLD)

Reports that North Carolina colleges are working together as never before to secure passage of the most expensive ($3.1 billion) statewide bond referendum package ever for the support of higher education in the United States. University and community college officials have cooperated in making the case across the state for the increased construction and renovation funds in light of increasing enrollments. (DB)

Reports on efforts at California State University to limit remedial instruction through such measures as requiring students to complete all remedial work before their sophomore year and working with high schools to align placement testing and high school curricula. Critics suggest students are being punished for attending high schools that failed to prepare them for college. (DB)

Discusses policies of Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education, Eugene W. Hickok, Jr., which include encouraging colleges to graduate more students in four years, stressing the need to improve the academic rigor of core curricula and teacher education programs at state universities, increasing state student financial aid, and encouraging for-profit schools. Cites both supporters and critics of these policies. (DB)

Reports on plans for new "race-blind" entrance criteria at the 10 public universities in Florida. Plans call for ending racial preferences in graduate education altogether and replacing undergraduate preferences with a guarantee of admission to a state university for the top 20 percent of Florida high school graduates. Critics and supporters are quoted concerning expected effects on minority enrollment. (DB)

Reports on trends to extend state student financial aid to students attending for-profit colleges. State legislatures are following the lead of Congress in treating proprietary institutions like traditional colleges. Examples from Colorado, Indiana, and Ohio are offered, as are data on the 10 states and territories that provide the largest share of financial aid to students at proprietary institutions. (DB)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will loosen its academic standards for college athletes with learning disabilities. By agreement with the Justice Department, the NCAA will certify special education classes offered to high school students with learning disabilities toward its initial-eligibility requirements, rather than counting them as remedial courses. Greater flexibility in eligibility requirements may follow. (MSE)

In the process of trying to preserve Internet history by archiving it, a company has developed a powerful Internet search engine that provides information on Web site usage patterns, which can act as a relatively objective source of information about information sources and can link sources that a researcher might otherwise miss. However, issues of copyright and privacy have emerged. (MSE)

Although women's enrollment at leading institutions of science and engineering have risen significantly in recent years, they still frequently make up less than one-third of the student population, despite women's high academic qualifications. Many institutions admit more women than men, but women are choosing other colleges and careers. Women still lag behind men in standardized mathematics test scores. (MSE)

Almost three years after the California State University System settled a sex-discrimination lawsuit by acceding to the strictest gender-equity standards in college sports, only 2 of the 19 institutions sponsoring athletic programs have met the agreement's terms. Some feel the agreement, based on proportionality of participation and funding for men's and women's sports to enrollments, may be unworkable. (MSE)

The Gourman Report, a guide to colleges and universities self-published since 1967, has largely been ignored by educators because its methodology is unclear and of questionable validity. Now, backed by a major test-preparation company and published by a major publisher, critics are concerned that it will gain legitimacy. The newest edition ranks administrative areas alongside academic departments. (MSE)

Last October, when CBS News's Bob Schieffer welcomed 57 million television viewers to Hofstra University for the third presidential debate, the moment marked perhaps the best chance yet for the university to show off its efforts--with the help of some 4,000 journalists to cover the event--to remake itself from a sleepy commuter campus into a trendy urban destination. But just as the university was making final preparations for the debate, another event was unfolding some 25 miles away from this Long Island campus that would play a much bigger role in delaying or derailing Hofstra's move up the academic rankings: the financial collapse on Wall Street. The economic crisis is wreaking havoc on colleges of all types and sizes. But to institutions trying to improve their academic profiles, the recession is causing the worst headaches. For them, tight credit markets, tapped-out donors, and squeezed budgets are threatening a backward slide no one expected. Hofstra thinks it can maintain its momentum and thrust itself into such elite company as George Washington, Boston, and New York Universities. But rather than follow the conventional path of rapidly raising tuition and funneling much of that revenue to merit aid to attract higher-caliber students, Hofstra has taken a more conservative approach. It has steadily increased tuition, but not as quickly as competitors, leaving its $30,130 price tag a relative bargain in the private sector. What's more, the discount rate for freshmen of 29 percent (the proportion of tuition revenue it uses for student aid) lags far behind the national average of 39.8 percent. Such a strategy gives the university the financial head room to raise tuition and student aid when many of its competitors are near a breaking point on both fronts. Whether or not concern about college costs will ease when the economy recovers is anyone's guess. If it doesn't, then Hofstra missed an opportunity to push through sizable tuition increases to pay for its plans. But even if worries about the cost of college lessen, following the well-worn path to a high-tuition, high-aid model could still backfire, as more students look for cheaper sticker prices.

This article describes Emory University's Excellence Through Leadership program. Started in 2006, the yearlong program is designed to help up to 20 administrators and faculty members annually improve their leadership skills, as well as create a pipeline to eventually replace senior leaders at the institution. Emory's leadership program is just one reason the university scored well in several recognition categories in "The Chronicle's" Great Colleges to Work For survey, leading to its position on the Honor Roll for four-year institutions. The survey also found other perks to working at Emory: a preschool for employees' children, a one-stop work-life resource center, and access to a comprehensive shuttle and van-pool network. The leadership program's classes, taught by business-school professors and Emory administrators, cover a range of topics, including strategic planning, marketing and branding, and higher-education finance. In addition to the classes, participants receive individual leadership coaching based on assessment tests they take. By design, the program's participants hail from various schools and departments at Emory. The highlight of the program is a group project: Each class is split into two groups for the year and assigned to work on two major problems facing the university, with a goal of making recommendations to the administration. As a result, participants have a greater appreciation for how the university works. About half the recommendations made by group-project participants so far have been put in place. What's even more impressive to Emory officials is how well those in the first three classes of the leadership program have performed on the job since they graduated: A quarter of them have changed job titles; 16 percent have received promotions; and 5 percent have changed divisions. And graduates consistently receive higher merit-pay increases than other employees. And no one who has participated in the program has left Emory.

As the nation's economy began to sputter early last year, two areas proved resilient to the cutback in Americans' spending: luxury goods and college degrees. By the end of 2008, however, luxury stores had recorded the greatest decline in sales of any retail-chain category. Optimistic college presidents believe they will be spared a drastic enrollment decline next fall, but some feel that the current economic downturn may force a significant number of private and public colleges to reduce their campuses to little more than their core missions. In three national public-opinion polls conducted by "The Chronicle" in recent years, respondents consistently said that the quality of a higher education was better at a more-expensive private institution than at a public one. But economists are saying this recession is different, and it is possible students and parents may begin to look beyond price for measures of quality, such as that being considered by the Pennsylvania State Board of Education to create a new kind of accelerated, year-round college to offer a lower-cost bachelor's degree.

Community colleges in nearly half of the states will probably face midyear reductions in their appropriations, according to a survey of members of the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges. The study paints a bleak picture of a widening fiscal crisis among state governments, which started in the most recent budget year and is expected to have a major effect on all higher-education sectors. The survey, which covered every state but Alaska and New Hampshire, very likely fails to capture the full extent of the fallout from the financial crisis, because state directors started to respond in August, before the Wall Street collapse of mid-September. Indeed, of the 22 state officials who responded after September 18, more than half said the likelihood of a midyear budget cut was either high or very high. The survey also shows that longer-term trends in state budgets, and not just the current state of the economy, may shape higher-education appropriations for years to come. Three in five respondents said structural, or chronic, budget deficits in their states will hurt public colleges, particularly community colleges, in the future.

During the three presidential debates this fall, both John McCain and Barack Obama opened by thanking their university hosts. If not for their locations, it's likely one would not have heard the words "college," "university," or "higher education" even uttered in the debates. Indeed, it wasn't until the final debate that Senator McCain mentioned the word "college." Senator Obama didn't score much better. According to transcripts, he said "college" three times in each of the first two debates, usually in passing reference to concerns about affordability. It wasn't until the last question of the final debate that the two major-party candidates fielded a question that focused squarely on education policy. That's when the debate's moderator, Bob Schieffer of CBS News, asked whether it poses a national-security threat that the U.S. trails many nations in students' abilities to compete in mathematics and science. Senator Obama responded first, pitching his plan to give college students up to $4,000 for tuition in exchange for community service. Senator McCain urged changes in the student-loan programs to raise how much students can borrow. Despite those lofty statements about the importance of education, trying to pin either candidate down on details, has been nearly impossible.

As Congress rushed to finish the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (after five years and 14 short-term extensions), nearly 3,000 miles away, on a corner of the Stanford University campus, Lee S. Shulman officially said goodbye to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching after 11 years as its president. In this article, Mr. Shulman talks about his vision of higher education's future and that his enormous faith in the power of ideas such as assessment of student learning is better than what is typically called policy. He wants colleges and policy makers to embrace "low stakes, high yield" types of assessments by employing measurements that are part of everyday learning and give students "an intellectual GPS so they know where they are." He reflects on the pressing issues facing higher education in the next decade which all revolve around his central love, teaching.

With baby boomers on college campuses nationwide getting ready to retire, those next in line--professors, administrators, and staff members in the middle of their careers--feel somewhat dispirited. They are more likely than anyone else on their campuses to harbor negative feelings about their jobs, career advancement, and the fairness of the workplace, according to a survey conducted by "The Chronicle." The findings come from more than 15,000 survey respondents at 89 colleges across the country that participated in "The Chronicle's" first-ever Great Colleges to Work For program, which recognizes institutions that have created exceptional work environments. The results show that, in general, academics are most upbeat at the beginning and at the end of their careers. Those who have been in their roles for less than two years gave some of the highest marks to their institutions' career-development programs. The most-satisfied group of campus employees by age was composed of those 65 and older. Over all, the results paint a positive picture of today's academic workplace: 71% of faculty members give high marks to collaborative governance on their campuses; 68% of tenured professors agree their colleges support a strong teaching environment; a nearly equal percentage of male employees (82%) and female employees (83%) say their institutions provide resources for work-life balance; and both groups are similarly satisfied with their jobs as a whole (86% for men and 88% for women). But at one point over the course of a career, the positive outlook darkens a bit. When employees hit their late 40s or after eight years in a campus job (just after many faculty members have come up for tenure) workers reach their lowest levels of satisfaction on several measures, including career development, fairness, and job satisfaction. Differences also appear when comparing public and private colleges, with private institutions outperforming public counterparts in areas of confidence in leadership, research and scholarship opportunities, and teaching environments.

Nearly seven months before the November election, a plurality of Americans favor Barack Obama to tackle what they consider the most pressing issue in higher education: the runaway cost of a bachelor's degree. According to a new nationwide survey conducted through The Chronicle/Gallup Panel, 42 percent of Americans think that controlling college costs is "extremely important" for the next president to address, ahead of higher-education issues such as quality, college access for low-income students, and the extreme concentration of wealth among elite institutions. On the question of which candidate would do more to help families pay for college, Mr. Obama maintains a 13-point advantage, 32 percent to 19 percent, over Hillary Rodham Clinton. Both of the Democrats top John McCain, at 10 percent, although a large group, 29 percent, responded "don't know." While Americans are clearly worried about college costs, one finding in the survey captures how conflicted they are about the issue. When asked if the federal government should have a role in controlling tuition at public and private colleges, the results were almost evenly split: 51 percent said yes, 49 percent no.

This article describes how colleges are seeking the best ways to respond to dangerous incidents like the shootings that occurred at Virginia Tech, and how best to alert people on their campuses to various threats to public safety and emergencies.