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Category: Universities

Breadth of Quality vs. Concentrations of Excellence

There was a time, perhaps twenty years ago, when the whole world wanted the American system of higher education.  The United States had the world’s most buoyant economy and a booming tech market, all apparently underpinned by a great, meritocratic system of universities.  Imitating it was the central if not fully-stated goal of China’s 985 program, Japan’s “Big Bang”, Germany’s Excellence Initiative and half a dozen other major national higher education systems. At the heart of most of these plans

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May 2, 2019 No Comments

The End of the Heisei Era

At about 3 AM tomorrow, Eastern Daylight time, Japanese Emperor Akihito will abdicate the Chyrsanthemum Throne in favour of his son, Naruhito. With that, the Heisei Era will end and the Reiwa Era will begin (time in Japan being marked by Imperial reigns; after their death, emperors become known by the “reign names”, which is why we know refer to Emperor Hirohito as the Showa Emperor and yes this does go all go back to Han-era China, why do you

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April 29, 2019 No Comments

Best Higher Ed Scandal of the Year

The following statement was issued in a Massachusetts courtroom yesterday morning. Dozens of individuals involved in a nationwide conspiracy that facilitated cheating on college entrance exams and the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits were arrested by federal agents in multiple states and charged in documents unsealed on March 12, 2019, in federal court in Boston. Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, are implicated, as well as parents and exam

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March 13, 2019 1 Comment

New Theories on Skills and Growth

One of the things post-secondary education does poorly is questioning its orthodoxies, particularly when it comes to the value of what it is the sector produces.  I’m talking in particular about graduate skills.  I mean, forget about the possibility that we could measure outcomes and relate them to specific skills and change curricula on that basis – that’s crazy talk (in universities, anyway).  I mean just the basic question: do skills matter?  This sounds like heresy, but it’s a serious

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March 1, 2019 No Comments

Ford’s Francophone Fracas

FordLate last week, Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli delivered a mid-year economic statement.  There wasn’t a whole lot of news in it, to be honest.  For the most part, it was a final government statement about how bad the previous government had been and a re-statement of actions taken to date.  There were repetitions about the need to get to a balanced budget and to reduce electricity rates, but no timetables for either were given.  But there were a few things

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November 21, 2018 1 Comment

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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