Posts Categorized: Demography

Is Our Aging Population a Threat to Education?

A Demographer Looks at New England’s Population and the Future of Education A great many New England institutions of higher education are about to find out if demography will determine their fate because unprecedented and substantial population change is sweeping across the region. New England is demographically unique in a number of ways. With fewer than 15 million year-round residents, i...

New Directions for Higher Education: Q&A with CAEL’s Tate on Prior Learning, Competency-Based Ed

In this installment of NEJHE's New Directions for Higher Education series, Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing & Professional Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, interviews Pamela Tate, president and CEO of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). NEJHE launched the series in 2013 to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on...

There’s an App U for That

The most defining eras throughout American history are branded by the economic needs of their times. The 19th and 20th centuries saw the rise and proliferation of the “Industrial Age” in which workers were needed to drive the industries born from the creation of power-driven machines. Subsequently, the later part of the 20th century gave way to the “Information Age” as a h...

New Directions for Higher Education: Q&A with Richard Ekman on Challenges, Misconceptions Facing Independent Colleges

In April 2013, NEJHE launched its New Directions for Higher Education series to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. Past installments of the series featured Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing & Professional Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, interviewing: Carnegie Foundation Presiden...

Master’s: A Graduate Degree’s Moment in the Age of Higher Education Innovation

The important ongoing national debate about the value of higher education and its relationship to the economy has largely focused on undergraduate education—understandably so since it represents the largest share of U.S. enrollment and spending. Yet there is an underanalyzed segment of postsecondary education that is increasingly relevant and in demand: professional master’s education. Over th...

Educating the Next Generation of Makers

NEBHE’s Problem Based Learning Projects Focus on Hot Fields such as Advanced Manufacturing ... The field of manufacturing typically conjures images of dimly lit dirty and dangerous factories crowded with workers, the kind seen in photos of New York City’s garment district in the early 1900s and in some developing countries today. But because of advances in technology, the field of manufactu...

The Massachusetts Community College Performance-based Funding Formula: A New Model for New England?

The Massachusetts community college system is entering a second year with funding for each of its 15 schools determined using a new performance-based formula. Under the new model, 50% of each college’s allocation is based on performance on metrics related to enrollment and student success, with added incentives for “at-risk” students completing certificates and degrees and those graduating i...

New Directions for Higher Education: Q&A with Ed Dept’s Studley on College Ratings, Feds

 In April 2013, NEJHE launched its New Directions for Higher Education series to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. Past installments of the series featured Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing & Professional Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, interviewing: Carnegie Foundation Pr...

A Case of Do or Die? The Fundamental Things that Apply to Online Leadership

This is the second of a two-part essay on the organizational implications of online distance education. Previously, I suggested that a gradual redistribution is occurring across American higher education, especially among adult learners. Local hegemony is at risk, as online interlopers, increasingly from top-tier universities and other academic behemoths, offer students choice they never had be...

Laying Down a Higher Education Innovation Challenge

Some notable developments in higher ed ... ... As Southern Maine goes, so goes the nation? College faculty and administrations get along a bit like Congress and the president. In the tradition of shared governance, the administration may offer a sharp change in business policy; the faculty applies the brakes. But at the University of Southern Maine, faculty leaders and President Theo Kalikow ar...