Must Reads: 3/22/10

Herald Tribune:

The fact that so many students choose private, for-profit colleges and universities simply reflects the effective job these institutions are doing, not that for-profits are in any way abusing taxpayer funds.

They exist purely on the demand of the marketplace and use the Pell grants to teach a group of students who are not particularly well served by traditional schools -- adult learners with job and family responsibilities, often without family financial support and many times the first in their family to attend college.

George Will:

Doubling down on dubious bets is characteristic of compulsive gamblers and federal education policy.
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But how does one fulfill -- or know when one has fulfilled -- Obama's goal of "college and career readiness" for every child by 2020? That gauzy goal resembles the 1994 goal that by 2000 (when, Congress dreamily decreed, every school "will be free of drugs and violence") every child would start school "ready to learn." Is "college and career readiness" one goal or two? Should everybody go to college? Is a college degree equivalent to career -- any career? -- readiness?

If such readiness is not measurable, this is another airy puff of legislative cotton candy, similar to NCLB's guarantee that every teacher will be "highly qualified."

Abundant evidence demonstrates that money is not an Archimedean lever for moving the world of education.

Kaplan University:

“The trends for online education continue to rise. Many people are looking for alternative education methods where they can be home with their family or continue to work a full time job, while get the schooling and enhanced preparation needed for advancing their career.

Keith Hampson discusses the state of competition in higher education:

Demand for higher education has never been greater (allowing for fluctuations in birth rates)

The power of suppliers, in this case academics, is increasingly low. We continue to produce PhD’s for which there are no jobs in academia. Adjuncts continue to be available, despite the remarkably low pay.

The barriers for new competitors to enter the market remain great.

Competition on price is far from intense. Tuition levels have risen faster than inflation for several years.

The majority of enrollments in online courses and programs is with local institutions. The arrival of the long-predicted global market in online higher ed is still in its infancy.

EduBubble discusses the idea of college grads receiving food stamps.