Descriptive statistics sometimes do not receive the respect that they deserve. It’s unfortunate, for in the right hands, with wisdom, judgment and expertise, descriptive statistics can make a complicated story clear. One of the better uses of descriptive statistics that I have read in quite some time is found in Charles T. Clotfelter’s Unequal Colleges…
Tag: higher education
Community Colleges, Immigrant Needs & the Job Market
A straightforward question is sometimes the best way to understand an issue – not because one might find an easy answer, but because the question opens up doors to complexity and helps with broader comprehension. In 2007, Duane E. Leigh, an economics professor emeritus from Washington State University, and Andrew Gill, a professor of economics…
Inequity in Action
What is the mission of public four-year colleges? I would wager that most American would say that they should provide high-quality educational opportunities to all students, regardless of wealth, status, and background. The reality, according to a recent study, is different. Our Separate & Unequal Public Colleges, a report from the Georgetown University Center on…
Whose College Unbound?
Adding to the ever-growing library of “higher education is failing” is Jeffery J. Seligno’s College (Un)Bound: the Future of Higher Education and What It Means For Students. An editor at large for the Chronicle of Higher Education, academia’s publication of record, Seligno is a well-respected writer on education issues. Seligno believes that higher education has lost…
Poor Options, Smart Choices
If, sadly, a twenty-two year old is killed by a bus, the news media will quickly report the untimely demise of a man. Ask a group of middle-aged Americans about a twenty-two year old who lacks a full-time job and lives in his parent’s house, and they would be unwilling to call that person an…
How Much For That Higher Education in the Window?
Part of the Jossey-Bass Wiley Series, Selling Higher Education: Marketing and Advertising America’s College and Universities by Eric J. Anctil is an unusual publication. A monograph with a valuable perspective on a key part of higher education, the book is neither as critical nor as prescriptive as one might expect. Lisa Wolf-Wendel, the series editor,…
It’s Broken – Have We Noticed?
We are awash in educational data. Reports emerge from agencies, foundations, corporations and institutions, and for those with the time and an inclination, further opportunities about. There are mysteries in educations, to be sure, but their essence and appeal has shifted from search to analysis. This seems to be particularly true when it comes to…