Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Freedom of Speech

I am not a libertarian nor am I a member of the ACLU, but I generally agree with them on the importance of free speech. This, I believe, is a real and growing problem on college campuses: Students affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement crashed an event at the College of William & Mary, […]

Tuition remission…okay, now what?

Tuition is only $1747 a year.  But then comes the other part…austerity budgets and as state support dwindles, one aspect is that creative cost shifting flourishes.  The tripling of student debt since 2004 are discussed here. And graduation rates remain flat. From the chart provided at Umass Amherst bursar’s office per semester costs are shown, excluding room and […]

Updated cost projections for the Pell Grant program

New America points us to Pell Grant cost projections: The Congressional Budget Office this week released updated cost projections for the Pell Grant program – and the estimates show an unexpected surplus over the past several years. The figures are much awaited because they dictate what lawmakers must allocate to the program in the upcoming […]

"No payment — no access code — no participation — lower final grade."

by Run 75441 “No payment — no access code — no participation — lower final grade.”Illustration by Jake Parker; http://www.agent44.com/http://heyoscarwilde.com/jake-parker-oliver-twist/ Now the use of textbooks and the sharing of a new textbook can be stopped with the sale of a yearly access code to engage in discussion boards by students with instructors. The Publishing Industry with the […]