Category Archives: Education (higher ed)

Joann Henry, program director of the Dream Academy

The Dream Academy, a Richmond nonprofit, is an adult education center that has worked in a collaborative relationship with the Richmond Public Schools. The academy provides the instruction and pays the school system to review student transcripts and authorize the diplomas. The program has helped more than 250 grown-ups, mostly African-Americans, earn their diplomas.

That relationship now is on the rocks. Virginia Department of Education officials have nixed the agreement on the grounds that the Dream Academy is a private organization. Now the nonprofit has no choice but to pursue private accreditation.

The incident raises issues regarding the legality of of public/private collaboration for adult education anywhere in Virginia.  Continue reading →

Richard Vedder

Richard Vedder is the nation’s foremost authority on college costs and productivity. His op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today is a devastating indictment of U.S. higher education. Compared to a half century ago, college professors are teaching less, students are studying less, and the ratio of administrators to faculty has soared.

He makes several points, some of which we’ve highlighted on Bacon’s Rebellion and bear repeating, and some of which we have overlooked:

Students studying less. College students today don’t study as hard as in generations past. According to surveys of student work habits, the average time spent in class and studying is about 27 hours a week. That compares to 40 hours weekly in the mid-20th century. Continue reading →

The progression of student protest movements: from “free speech” in the 1960s to “suppressed speech” in the 2010s. (Images taken from a student protester Twitter feed.)

Citing trauma to the psyches of sexual assault survivors, students at George Mason University are calling for George Mason University President Angel Cabrera to fire U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh from his new post as a visiting professor at GMU’s Antonin Scalia Law School.

So far, Cabrera is holding firm. At a recent board of visitors meeting, the GMU President said that Kavanaugh’s appointment was approved by the law school faculty in January and that he stands behind the decision, according to The College Fix website.

So far nearly 3,300 students have signed a petition demanding that GMU “terminate and void all contracts and affiliation with Brett Kavanaugh at George Mason University.” Several students, including some who said they were sexual assault survivors, made their concerns known during a public-address session of the Board of Visitors.

Said one female student: “As someone who has survived sexual assault three times I do not feel comfortable with someone who has sexual assault allegations like walking on campus.” Continue reading →

As a basketball fan, I’m delighted that five Virginia teams — UVa, Virginia Tech, VCU, ODU and Liberty — will participate in the NCAA tournament this month. That’s more than basketball powerhouse North Carolina (heh! heh!), and it may be more teams than from any other state. After UVa chokes early in the tournament, I’ll still have up to four other teams to root for!

I’m less enthralled, however, by the fact that the teams’ success has been funded in part by an increase in student fees, thus contributing to the higher-ed affordability crisis.

According to Richmond BizSense, revenue from the Virginia Commonwealth University athletics program has more than doubled in the past eight years, zooming from $16.3 million in FY 2010 to $34.2 million in FY 2017. The largest source of athletics revenue was student fees. Continue reading →

VCU students protest tuition hikes and adjunct pay last year. Photo credit; WCVE.

Before voting on tuition increases, board members of Virginia universities will have to listen to public input from students and families, if Governor Ralph Northam signs a bill passed by the General Assembly.

SB 1118 sponsored by Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, with a companion bill sponsored by Del. Jason Miyares, R-Virginia Beach, would “require governing board[s] of each public institution of higher education, prior to a vote on an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees, to permit public comment on the proposed increase at a meeting of the governing board.”

The prevailing practice is for tuition proposals to work their way through financial committees and then get voted on by the full board of trustees with relatively little discussion. Board of visitors members are wined and dined by university presidents, and they rarely rock the boat. Administrators spoon-feed them information, and conflicting views are rarely heard. Unlike corporate board members who own stock in the company they govern, university board members have no financial skin in the game. Many are alumni whose main concern is enhancing the prestige of the alma mater they love. Continue reading →