The job market for faculty positions in religion was relatively stable in 2012, better than it was immediately after the economic downturn hit in 2008, but still down from earlier, according to a report by the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion. Read more...

Blackboard will create a virtual bookstore accessed from within the company's learning management system, Blackboard Learn. As seen in two conceptual screenshots shared by a Blackboard spokeswoman, the bookstore will automatically gather the materials assigned in a student's courses for easy checkout. The spokeswoman also said the bookstore, created in cooperation with MBS Direct, will help faculty members find materials -- both traditional textbooks and open resources -- for their courses. Read more...

In a match seemingly made in open educational resource heaven, the free textbook producer OpenStax College and OER support provider Lumen Learning on Wednesday announced a partnership that aims to save college students $10 million on textbooks by 2015. Lumen Learning helps institutions transition away from traditional course materials, and will use OpenStax College's textbook offerings to bolster its catalog of open resources. The free textbook producer, based at Rice University, has published six textbooks so far and has another seven in the works. Read more...

By David B. Downing. As Scott Jaschik points out in his January 13, 2014 article, “The Third Rail,” the terrible stress our newly minted Ph.D.s in English, comp lit, and foreign languages confront when they begin the job search seems only to be escalating rather than abating.  Understandably, then, many Modern Language Association convention sessions, as well as a growing body of publications, have been taking up a variety of proposals for addressing the job crisis. Jaschik mentions the session I chaired, “Who Benefits? Competing Agendas and Graduate Education,” and he carefully articulates the basic positions of the panelists as we were all in general agreement that shrinking the size of graduate programs in English would not be the best way to remedy the situation. Read more...

By Scott McLemee. The golden age of unsolicited credit-card applications ended about five years ago. It must have been a relief at the post office. At least ten envelopes came each week -- often with non-functioning replica cards enclosed, to elicit the anticipatory thrill of fresh plastic in the recipient’s hot little hand. Read more...

By Paul J. LeBlanc. Matt Reed’s recent column on experimental sites and competency-based education (CBE) offers just the kind of thoughtful analysis we’ve come to expect of his columns. He raises important questions about the role of faculty, the efficacy of approaches that include less instructional interaction, the viability of pay-for-performance aid models, and more.  The answers to those questions today?  We don’t know.  And that’s why we need to support the Department of Education’s experimental sites proposal, to create safe places in which to explore the kind of thoughtful and constructive questions that Matt poses. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. At the center of the student loan interest rate fights in Congress in recent years has been a simple question: how much, if anything, does the federal loan program cost taxpayers?
A new federal report released Friday confirms what many observers already knew the answer to be: it’s complicated. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama called for expanded access to apprenticeships and improved job training programs at community colleges that are better-aligned with the skills that employers demand. In line with the overarching economic themes of his speech, Obama also spoke about the power of higher education to improve lives. Read more...