The Review | Essay
Higher Ed Is a Land of Dead-End Jobs
Colleges have done a spectacularly bad job of managing talent.
The Latest
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'Conditions Were Insurmountable'
Citing Financial Headwinds and Enrollment Woes, a Small College Says It Will Close
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The Review | Opinion
How FIRE Actually Defends Free Speech
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Racial Representation
At This Rate, Faculty Diversity Will Never Reach Parity
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The Review
The Humanities’ Professional Deformations
The study of interpreted traditions has declined in viability. Why?
Race on Campus
A Race-Neutral Way to Recruit Diverse Students
A nonprofit helps selective colleges connect with capable students by letting them take free classes.
Teaching
How Instructors Are Rethinking Late Work
Pandemic teaching pushed many professors to be more flexible about deadlines. Our colleague reports on how that’s shaking out now.
Virtual Events
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Managing Higher Ed’s Modern Work Force
UPCOMING: December 8, 2022 | 2 p.m. ET: In a national survey by The Chronicle, 57 percent of administrators said their colleges lacked policies and systems to govern a contemporary workplace. Join us to discuss what provosts, deans, and department chairs can do to improve employee morale and related issues. With Support From ModernThink. Register here. -
A Flexible Campus for a New Era
UPCOMING: December 13, 2022 | 2 p.m. ET: Remote and hybrid education are effective ways to improve faculty flexibility and student satisfaction. What are the first steps you need to take to create the best offerings on your campus? Register today for “A Flexible Campus for a New Era” to find out. With Support From Ring Central. Register here. -
Higher Ed’s Digital Future: Research Universities
ON DEMAND: Hybrid and virtual courses improved accessibility for students, especially nontraditional ones, during the pandemic. In the final installment of this three-part series, a panel of experts will discuss the future of tech in higher ed. With Support From Verizon. Watch on demand. -
Chronicle Festival: The Ideas Shaping Higher Ed
ON DEMAND: Higher ed faces an unprecedented decline in trust. What can colleges do to revitalize their missions, better promote their value, and reconnect with the public? Chronicle journalists interview leading thinkers. With Support From Workday, Adobe, and Pushkin. Watch on demand.
The Enrollment Crunch: A Special Report
Disappearing Students
The Shrinking of Higher Ed
In the past, colleges grew their way out of enrollment crises. This time looks different.
Nearly 1.3 million students have disappeared from American colleges since the pandemic began. That contraction comes at a precarious moment for the sector. Inflation is driving up costs and straining budgets, stock-market volatility is reducing endowment returns, and federal stimulus funds are running out.
Why is the enrollment crunch happening now? How are colleges responding? What might turn things around? Those are the questions fueling this special report.
Nearly 1.3 million students have disappeared from American colleges since the pandemic began. That contraction comes at a precarious moment for the sector. Inflation is driving up costs and straining budgets, stock-market volatility is reducing endowment returns, and federal stimulus funds are running out.
Why is the enrollment crunch happening now? How are colleges responding? What might turn things around? Those are the questions fueling this special report.
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Stopping the Slide
A community college, a public regional, and a small private institution try to innovate their way out of yearslong enrollment declines. -
Finishing What They Started
As the number of traditional-age students shrinks, educators strive to re-enroll the 39 million Americans who left without a credential. -
The Perilous Predicament of the Very Small College
Many campuses with fewer than 1,000 students survived the pandemic on fumes. What’s next? -
Whither Black Enrollment?
After more than a century of Black activists’ fight for college access, Black enrollment this past decade has tumbled at an alarming rate.
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Professional-Development Resources
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Professional-Development Resources
Visit The Chronicle’s professional-development resources page to read stories from Chronicle journalists and contributors, and to explore videos and research briefs on a variety of topics. -
The Chair’s Role in the Continuing Pandemic
George Justice discusses how department chairs are continuing to deal with Covid on campus, and how they’re dealing with the added pressures of leading through the pandemic. Video provided by Dever Justice LLC. -
Managing Up
Carolyn Dever tackles how managing up is a challenge for all department chairs, and how to navigate these difficulties, providing pro tips on how to approach your dean or provost. Video provided by Dever Justice LLC. -
Seven Practices for Building Community and Student Belonging Virtually
Most colleges and universities have traditionally provided in-person programming and supports to strengthen bonds between students and build a sense of community. This research brief was originally published by Ithaka S+R.
The Review
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Disgraced Presidents Shouldn’t Get Tenure
Why enrich someone whose career ended in controversy? -
Everyone’s Wrong About FIRE
The organization to defend campus free speech has its problems, but they’re not what critics think. -
Can We Finally Topple the Tyranny of Rankings?
This is the best chance to kill the conformist pseudoscience of U.S. News, once and for all. -
Letters to the Editor
Read the latest letters to the editor about our articles and about topics we have covered.
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Data
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Whose Pandemic-Era Graduation Rates Beat, or Fell Below, the Average?
See which colleges’ trend lines in six-year graduation rates were well outside the national norm. -
A Rare Survey of Faculty Morale Shows That the Pandemic’s Effects Continue to Ripple
Research on professors’ well-being trailed off after the first year or two of Covid. But a new study suggests their stress levels remain high. -
Is This the Beginning of the End of the ‘U.S. News’ Rankings’ Dominance?
High-ranking law schools have taken the abrupt step of disavowing the much-cited list. But don’t expect the magazine’s influence to wane anytime soon.
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Advice
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How to Defuse a Classroom Conflict: Make It More Complex
Five practices to help students break through all the binary thinking. -
How to Retain Your Best Staff Members
Four tips from a former student-affairs administrator on how to improve work culture on campus. -
5 Easy Ways to Aid a Scholar Working Without a University
How faculty members can help “independent” researchers thrive (or, at least, survive). -
7 Tips for Scholars on Writing for Nonacademics
To reach a wider audience, try to unlearn a few habits. -
Ask the Chair: ‘I’ve Never Been a Boss Before’
A new chair seeks advice on how to be an effective supervisor of department staff members. -
Tenure and the Arrival Fallacy
Wasn’t tenure the Holy Grail of academe? I had made it. Why wasn’t I overjoyed?
