Universities may want to adopt a basic rule to avoid mission creep: When you have failed in your basic task, it is probably not a good idea to enter into new ventures outside of that…
Perspectives
Did Governor Scott Walker Graduate?
Reports that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker did not graduate from college have provoked a stream of broadsides, most of them misleading. For starters, he left after three and a half years “in good standing,” according…
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
On this President’s Day, let’s recall the words of Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and…
Economists Need a Field Trip to the Real World
At least one economist gets off campus frequently enough to see what the real economy looks like and, naturally, he’s a free market type. Perhaps he should take his colleagues on a field trip. “American…
Unions cap Charter School Growth
Charter school growth has exploded over the last two decades and so have the waiting lists to get in them. “Today there are charter school laws in 42 states and the District of Columbia,” Nina…
Obama’s Apology Tour Defense
An academic tries to make the case that our peripatetic president’s business trips abroad do not constitute an “apology tour,” as some of President Obama’s critics have often alleged. “Obama always links the expansion of…
George W. Bush Reappraised? Sort of
We think we’ve found the closest thing you will ever see to a scholarly defense of George W. Bush. “Let me begin by acknowledging that George W. Bush is unlikely to be remembered as a…
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Marquette Fires Traditional, Well-Liked Professor
Proving once again that tenure offers little protection to more conservative scholars, Marquette’s president recently fired a tenured professor who possessed a more traditional outlook. “On November 9, 2014, you chose to post on the…
Scott Walker’s Smart Higher Ed Proposal
The governor of Wisconsin has provoked the ire of the higher education establishment in the state by suggesting that professors on the state payroll spend less and work more. “In the future, by not having…
Pell Grants don’t help Career-Oriented Students
Pell grants are a lifeline for many American students, costing billions of taxpayer dollars, but what do we have to show for it? A policy paper by the American Enterprise Institute’s Kevin James points out…