Academe Today

Administration

Public Regional Colleges Never Die. Can They Be Saved?

Demographics and budgets are forcing the workhorses of higher education to reinvent themselves. But political realities have a way of hampering change.

Federal Spending

Science Advocates See Trump Backlash in Budget Boost

Shock over the size the president's proposed cuts for the NIH apparently energized scientists and lawmakers.

The Ticker

Journal Apologizes for Article Likening Transracialism to Being Transgender

Hypatia, a feminist philosophy periodical, said it regretted a paper that compared Rachel Dolezal’s desire to be seen as black with Caitlyn Jenner’s transition from male to female.

Research

Would Andrew Jackson Have Prevented the Civil War? Trump Says Yes. A Jackson Scholar Says No.

A scholar of the 19th-century president weighs in on the current president’s speculation on how history might have turned out differently.

Technology

Who’s Up and Who’s Down in Online Education?

A new study takes stock of the top institutions in online enrollment in 2015 and traces their growth ­— or retrenchment — over the previous three years. Most of the biggest gainers are nonprofit institutions.

The Ticker

Political Division Soars on Campus, Survey Finds

An annual survey of freshmen found historically high polarization among them, along with growing concerns over college costs and mental health.

Data

Backgrounds and Beliefs of College Freshmen

For more than five decades, researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles have surveyed the nation’s incoming freshmen to learn more about their backgrounds, views, and expectations. Use this interactive graphic to see how their attitudes and self-images have changed since the 1960s.

Your Daily Briefing

We’ve started a new email, for individual subscribers only, that briefs readers on everything they need to know in higher ed to start the day. Here’s a sample.

The Chronicle Review

The Corporate Assault on Higher Education

It’s part of a broader attack on public services that’s channeled through state legislatures to avoid the national spotlight.

Commentary

The Role of Confidentiality in Presidential Searches

Who are governing boards protecting with such requirements?

Lingua Franca

Verbalizing

Anne Curzan stumbles upon what looks like a relatively new semantic shift that, so far, has escaped judgment.

Ms. Mentor

Surrounded by Compulsive Talkers

Why do my colleagues have to talk all the time?

Vitae

Stuck in the Assessment Swamp?

It’s little wonder that “assessment” is one of those words that make faculty members break out in hives.