By Jacqueline Thomsen. Anyone beginning a career as an academic has extensive hurdles to overcome, whether it's becoming familiar with hundreds of papers on relevant topics, digging through and analyzing decades of research, or learning how to make significant contributions to the field. Read more...

By Paul Fain. In recent years a wide range of companies have sprung up to help fix the so-called skills gap -- the gulf between what employers need and what college graduates can do. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. Seeking to put some policy heft behind the progressive vision of debt-free college that is gaining steam on the campaign trail, Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday outlined a sweeping college affordability agenda to “dramatically reform” higher education. Read more...

By Colleen Flaherty. It’s a given: committees in administrative searches will check references beyond those included on a candidate’s résumé. The stakes of the appointment are high, so why rely only on the references the candidate has put forward, the thinking goes. Read more...

By Colleen Flaherty. They’re almost universally loathed by professors as being too subjective and an unreliable indicator of performance. But beyond that, surprisingly little is known about student evaluations of faculty teaching. Read more...

By Ashley A. Smith. California has one of the largest community college systems in the country, and its four-year universities are so challenged for space that they need many students to start at community colleges. Read more...

By Jacqueline Thomsen. A national poll released by the Robert Morris University Polling Institute Monday found that only a little more than half of respondents viewed the college selection process favorably and less than half thought colleges were doing enough to help graduates find jobs. Read more...

By Colleen Flaherty. Like many university leaders, Chancellor Rebecca Blank of the University of Wisconsin at Madison has had her ups and downs with the faculty. She butted heads with some professors in her support for a now-dead plan to make the university system into a more autonomous public authority, for example, but earned faculty praise when she defended professors against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s suggestion that faculty members might be shirking their teaching responsibilities. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. The federal government will forgive the debt of thousands of former students of Corinthian Colleges, the Obama administration said Monday as it announced a new debt relief plan that will extend to all federal borrowers who can prove they were defrauded by their college. Read more...

By Elizabeth Redden. As part of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration announced last fall, the White House said that the Department of Homeland Security would propose changes to “expand and extend the use” of the optional practical training (OPT) program, which currently provides temporary work authorization to international students for 12 months postgraduation with an additional 17-month extension for students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Read more...