A stressed value proposition
In Indiana, one big challenge — even before the pandemic — has been a steady decline in college-going rates. Barely half of the state's male high-school graduates do.
Town, gown, and dirt
In Akron, a tragedy this fall brought new urgency to the question of what more the university should be doing for its neighbors.
Two brothers aspired to college. Only one made it.
There’s a story of contrasts that runs through the center of Colorado’s record on higher education: The state has one of the most highly educated populations. But its record on getting many of the residents who grew up there into, and through, college is much worse.
What do we even mean by merit?
This whole discussion of merit — what it even means, how it drives who gets to go to college, how it shapes people’s college dreams — is threaded through so many debates in higher education. And it can distort the conversation.
An investment that will accelerate our growth
The American Journalism Project is giving grants to support a set of national news organizations working in local communities. We're excited to be part of this group working to reimagine and strengthen local news.
Follow our expanded national reporting
Connect with our new team of reporters covering the role of colleges in rural America, the future of postsecondary education in prisons, and higher education and racial equity.
What people get wrong about community colleges
Our nation’s two-year colleges often get little attention in national conversations about higher ed. And yet they enroll more than one-third of the undergraduates in America.
The public has soured on higher ed. Now what?
A new book probes what colleges can do to change public sentiment. “Universities are not doing a great job of communicating what they are doing,” says Stephen Gavazzi, one of the authors and a human sciences professor at Ohio State.
Where education and jobs intersect
We started a new project back in June focused on covering the connections between education and work. It's a topic getting a lot of attention in public-policy circles but not one that's regularly covered on the ground. Here's what's struck us so far.
What does $4 billion get you?
The wealth gap between historically Black colleges and predominantly white ones is staggering. The top 10 richest universities have endowments totaling $200 billion. The 10 richest HBCUs? Just $2 billion. And the combined endowments for every single HBCU is just $3.9 billion.