A Better Factory Model
In Inside Higher Ed, Clive Belfield and Davis Jenkins argue that to understand college efficiency and the cost implications of reform, the entire student pathway needs to be considered—not just the cost per completion in a given year.
Online Students Need More Face-to-Face Time, Not Less
In the Australian publication The Conversation, Shanna Smith Jaggars and Thomas Bailey argue that to achieve better outcomes for online students, community colleges must focus more attention on student preparation and faculty training.
Clear Expectations on Readiness
In Inside Higher Ed, Melinda Mechur Karp and Rachel Hare Bork call attention to the importance of nonacademic college readiness.
Equity and Community Colleges
In a commentary for The Chronicle of Higher Education, CCRC Director Thomas Bailey writes about the relationship between community colleges and social mobility.
Law Hamstrings College Remedial Programs
In The Hartford Courant, Thomas Bailey, Katherine Hughes, and Shanna Smith Jaggars critique proposed Connecticut legislation that would prohibit community colleges from providing more than one semester of remedial instruction.
Are College Entrants Overdiagnosed as Underprepared?
In her final article for the Economix blog of The New York Times, Judith Scott-Clayton considers whether too many college students are assigned to remedial courses as a result of the assessment and placement process.
New Approach to Calculating College Graduation Rates, While Flawed, Is a Major Step Forward
In The Hechinger Report, CCRC Director Thomas Bailey reacts to the U.S. Department of Education's action plan for improving how graduation rates are calculated.
Who Shouldn't Go to College?
On the Economix blog of The New York Times, Judith Scott-Clayton argues that those who are dismissive of college don't recognize how much higher education has changed and how much vocational training is now offered on college campuses.
The Hidden Majority of For-Profit Colleges
On the Economix blog of The New York Times, Judith Scott-Clayton discusses a new study indicating that the number of students at for-profit colleges is vastly understated by the government, raising questions about whether federal aid provides institutions with a lever to increase tuition.
Do Big-Time Sports Mean Big-Time Support for Universities?
On the Economix blog of The New York Times, CCRC's Judith Scott-Clayton examines how athletic programs can benefit universities' bottom lines.