By Marc Singer - EvoLLLution. Not to suggest that they were working in concert, but by and large these institutions — some of which were new, others that had been hanging around on the margins for many years — applied some of the basic principles of the marketplace to an industry that had not been treated like a marketplace before. More...

By Marc Singer - EvoLLLution. In the last few years, the proprietary higher education institutions — the for-profit schools — have been on the firing line. They have been investigated by Congress for exploiting federal Title IV financial aid guidelines, pursuing profits at the expense of serving their students. More...

By Albert Powell - EvoLLLution. Since American culture likes to think of things in threes, I’ll offer my view of the top three roadblocks to innovation in higher education. To be fair, this is a bit like trying to name the three best outfielders in Major League Baseball; everyone has favorites and it’s hard to agree. But as per the metaphor, I’ll take a swing at it. More...

By Craig Munier - EvoLLLution. 1. As a starting point, what would be the biggest advantages of having a college rating system?
It seems to me that some of the other popular media ranking systems —  while probably originally intended to create an additional demand and market for the print medium magazine — have had an unintended consequence of incenting institutions to do the wrong thing. More...

By Barmak Nassirian - EvoLLLution. Public anxiety about college costs — a nearly constant theme in U.S. domestic politics for the past 25 years — is at an all-time high. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone in this industry. More...

By Benjamin L. Castleman - EvoLLLution. 1. What are the most significant barriers to retention and success for low-income and non-traditional students?
I see two types of barriers. The first is systemic, structural barriers that require long-term and ongoing investment to change. The ones that I see principally are barriers to college affordability and barriers to academic readiness. More...

By Richard Gentle - EvoLLLution. The extremely low completion rates of MOOCs suggest to me that people lose the impetus to complete after their initial enthusiasm; when learning becomes difficult, the student falls behind or anxiety over ability to cope sets in. This doesn’t even take into account the disruption of the daily life routines many adult learners have to manage along with course work. More...

By Richard Gentle - EvoLLLution. If you’re a full-time employee, chances are you will pick up new bits of information quite frequently, adding to your knowledge and ability to manage your job’s tasks. However, whilst this may drip-feed knowledge acquisition, it will probably not help you in expanding your broader knowledge, or offer anything of personal benefit outside of the workplace. More...

By Debra Beck - EvoLLLution. As a social networking platform, Twitter can be a place for rich, informal learning for individual academics. But can it have an equally valuable role in deepening what happens in college classrooms. More...

By David Hofmeister - EvoLLLution. What’s your brand in the adult education market? Is it branded as part of the overall institution? Is it segmented within the institution? Does it stand alone? What does the branding convey? Does it offer flexible scheduling, accelerated classes, online and on-ground classes and other adult-friendly attributes? More...