20th Anniversary of ROPS

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Past ROPS

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the Center’s launch of its Research and Occasional Paper Series (ROPS). Since its founding in 1957 as the first academic research center focused on higher education in the United States, and probably the world, CSHE had published various working papers by its many associates and visiting scholars. But in 1999, the launch of ROPS by founding editor John Aubrey Douglass initiated a systematic publication series in an on-line, open access format, dedicated to publishing papers that relate to the Center’s mission: to promote multidisciplinary research. 

Since 1999, more than 250 ROPS have been published that range from thoughtful essays by practitioners and observers of higher education policy and politics, to rigorous academic studies that reflect the diversity of CSHE’s many research associates over the years – authors who bring their methodologies in sociology, history, political science, economics, engineering and many other academic disciplines.

ROPS has also proved a highly successful vehicle for distributing the work of the Center’s many researchers and associates’ overtime with an average of more than 100,000 individual downloads of papers a year that are listed on CSHE ROPS website, UC’s eScholarship website, and ERIC (the US Department of Education websource). Contributors have ranged from practitioners such as university presidents, to world renowned researchers and CSHE visiting scholars, to graduate students.

Many papers have had a significant impact on policy discussions; many have later been published in academic journals or as exploratory chapters that have led to books. One of the founding principles of the ROPS series is that authors retain copyright, that they use the citation formats of their discipline, and that there are no significant limits on the length of their contribution – although with advice provided by the editor and selected reviewers.

The following provides a incomplete selection of ROPS contributions over the years some by topic and including noted authors and others that made important scholarly and policy relevant contributions. For a complete list of ROPS contributions by year see the CSHE ROPS website. To search ROPS by title/author/subject, visit the Publications landing page, select "ROPS and Occasional Paper Series" under the "Publication Type" drop down menu.

Browse ROPS by Topic

Click on the drop down menus below to view ROPS published by topic.

Access and Equity

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Affirmative action and its race-neutral alternatives

February 7, 2023
Zach Bleemer

As affirmative action loses political feasibility, many universities have implemented race-neutral alternatives like top percent policies and holistic review to increase enrollment among disadvantaged students. I study these policies’ application, admission, and enrollment effects using University of California administrative data. UC’s affirmative action and top percent policies increased underrepresented minority (URM) enrollment by over 20 percent and less than 4 percent, respectively. Holistic review increases implementing campuses’ URM enrollment by about 7 percent. Top percent...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004727272300021X

How California Determined Admissions Pools: Lower and Upper Division Student Targets and the California Master Plan for Higher Education, by John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2001

The 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education made a number of recommendations in the area of admissions. Key was a proposed target of at least 60% of all undergraduate students being at the upper division level at the University of California and what became the California State University system. At the time, approximately 51 percent of the instruction at both UC and the State Colleges (CSU) were at the upper division. It was assumed that there was a high correlation between upper division instruction and the status of undergraduates as Juniors and Seniors. The plan,...

Inequality, Student Achievement, and College Admissions: A Remedy for Underrepresentation, by Roger E. Studley

Roger E. Studley
2003

Large socioeconomic and ethnic disparities exist in college admissions. This paper demonstrates that by systematically accounting for the effect of socioeconomic circumstance on pre-college achievement, colleges can substantially reduce these disparities. A conceptual model distinguishes students' realized achievement from their underlying ability (inclusive of effort and motivation) and relates achievement differences to both ability and socioeconomic circumstance. The model shows that an admissions policy that systematically accounts for the relationship between circumstance and...

The Community Colleges and the Path to the Baccalaureate, by Arthur M. Cohen

Arthur M. Cohen
2003

This paper discusses several aspects of the community college role in providing access to further studies: ways of calculating transfer rates and estimates of the number of students making the transition, incentives for and inhibitors to student transfer as reflected in state policy and institutional practice, and a look to the future of transfer. It emphasizes California, which boasts by far the greatest community college and public university enrollment figures.

The Role of Advanced Placement and Honors Courses in College Admissions, by Saul Geiser and Veronica Santelices

Saul Geiser
Veronica Santelices
2004

This study examines the role of Advanced Placement (AP) and other honors-level courses as a criterion for admission at a leading public university, the University of California, and finds that the number of AP and honors courses taken in high school bears little or no relationship to students’ later performance in college. AP is increasingly emphasized as a factor in admissions, particularly at selective colleges and universities. But while student performance on AP examinations is strongly related to college performance, merely taking AP or other honors-level courses in high school...

Straight Talk on Student Loans, by Robert Shireman

Robert Shireman
2004

The federal government provides student loans for college and graduate school in two ways: by guaranteeing bank loans, and by lending directly to students. In the guaranteed loan program, banks lend students money and profit from the interest payments while the government guarantees the loans against default and makes subsidy payments to the banks. In the direct loan system, the government provides low-interest loans directly to students, using borrower interest payments to help cover the costs of the program. There have been numerous audits and investigations of both the direct and...

Validity Of High-School Grades In Predicting Student Success Beyond The Freshman Year: High-School Record vs. Standardized Tests as Indicators of Four-Year College Outcomes, by Saul Geiser and Maria Veronica Santelices

Saul Geiser
Maria Veronica Santelices
2007

High-school grades are often viewed as an unreliable criterion for college admissions, owing to differences in grading standards across high schools, while standardized tests are seen as methodologically rigorous, providing a more uniform and valid yardstick for assessing student ability and achievement. The present study challenges that conventional view. The study finds that high-school grade point average (HSGPA) is consistently the best predictor not only of freshman grades in college, the outcome indicator most often employed in predictive-validity studies, but of four-year college...

No College Student Left Behind? by Steven Brint

Steven Brint
2008

Today we face a challenge to the organization of higher education that will transform the enterprise, however it is resolved. That challenge goes under the name “learning outcomes,” or sometimes “accountability.” It is a challenge brought largely by those outside higher education, and it is based on criticisms of the performance of college and university instructors in the face of heightened public expectations. One resolution to the challenge may be the adoption of standardized testing for learning outcomes; another may be to bring greater professionalism to the role of college teaching...

The "Turning Point" for Minority Pre-Meds: The Effect of Early Undergraduate Experience in the Sciences on Aspirations to Enter Medical School of Minority Students at UC Berkeley and Stanford University, by Donald A. Barr and John Matsui

Donald A. Barr
John Matsui
2008

The University of California faces the challenge of increasing the diversity of students graduating from its medical schools while also adhering to mandated restrictions on the use of race or ethnicity in the admissions process. Students from diverse backgrounds who gain admission as undergraduates to UC Berkeley and express an early interest in a medical career are an important potential source of medical students for the UC system. However previous data suggest that many of these undergraduate students lose interest in a medical career and never apply to medical school. We report on...

Reflections on a Century of College Admissions Tests, by Richard C. Atkinson and Saul Geiser

Richard C. Atkinson
Saul Geiser
2009

Standardized testing for college admissions has grown exponentially since the first administration of the old “College Boards” in 1901. This paper surveys major developments since then: the introduction of the “Scholastic Aptitude Test” in 1926, designed to tap students’ general analytic ability; E.F. Lindquist’s creation of the ACT in 1959 as a competitor to the SAT, intended as a measure of achievement rather than ability; the renewed interest on the part of some leading colleges and universities in subject-specific assessments such as the SAT Subject Tests and Advanced Placement...

Affording the Dream: Student Debt and State Need-Based Grant Aid for Public University Students by C. Eaton, S. Kulkarni, R. Birgeneau, H. Brady, and M. Hout

C. Eaton
S. Kulkarni
Robert Birgeneau
Henry Brady
Michael Hout
2017

Public research universities are a key vehicle for educational mobility. Yet rising student debt for undergraduate students has created new risks, particularly for lower income students at lower ranked universities. We find that student loan default rates reached 35 percent for low-income students at public universities with low research rankings during the Great Recession. Given these troubling loan default rates, we find encouraging evidence that a few U.S. states have adopted robust need-based grant aid programs to make college more affordable for low-income students. Such grant...

College Affordability and the Emergence of Progressive Tuition Models: Are New Financial Aid Policies at Major Public Universities Working? by Patrick A. Lapid and John Aubrey Douglass

Patrick A. Lapid
John Aubrey Douglass
2016

In an era of significant disinvestment in public higher education by state governments, many public universities are moving toward a “progressive tuition model” that attempts to invest approximately one-third of tuition income into institutional financial aid for lower-income and middle-class students. The objective is to mitigate the cost of tuition and keep college affordable. But is this model as currently formulated working? What levels of financial stress are students of all income groups experiencing? And are they changing their behaviors? Utilizing data...

The Growing Correlation Between Race and SAT Scores: New Findings from California by Saul Geiser

Saul Geiser
2015

This paper presents new and surprising findings on the relationship between race and SAT scores. The findings are based on the population of California residents who applied for admission to the University of California from 1994 through 2011, a sample of over 1.1 million students. The UC data show that socioeconomic background factors – family income, parental education, and race/ethnicity – account for a large and growing share of the variance in students’ SAT scores over the past twenty years. More than a third of the variance in SAT scores can now be predicted by factors known at...

Back to the Future: Freshman Admissions at the University of California, 1994 to the Present and Beyond, by Saul Geiser

Saul Geiser
2014

The past five years have seen unprecedented changes in freshman admissions at the University of California, reflecting steep cuts in state funding that UC sustained during that period as well as changes in UC’s definition of who is eligible to enter the university. The number of California applicants who were not admitted to the UC system more than doubled between 2010 and 2012, although part of that increase also reflected a change in admissions policies and procedures. The number of “no shows” – applicants who were admitted but did not attend – increased...

International Berkeley: Enrolling International Students Yesterday and Today, Debates on the Benefits of Multicultural Diversity, and Macro Questions on Access and Equity by John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2014

The argument that cultural and other forms of diversity enhance the educational experience of all students is generally associated largely with post-1960 efforts to expand the presence of disadvantaged groups on the campuses of America’s universities and colleges. Yet, in the case of UC Berkeley, debates on the merits of cultural diversity have much earlier roots in the historical enrollment of international students. Debates in the late 1800s and early twentieth century revolved around the appropriateness of enrolling foreign students, particularly those from Asia. The result was an...

Affirmative Action, the Fisher Case, and the Supreme Court: What the Justices and the Public Need to Know, by John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2013

Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide on the contentious issue of Affirmative Action, and specifically the use of race in admissions decisions in public universities. Despite differences in the details, seasoned veterans of affirmative action debates are experiencing déjà vu. In this case, Abigail Noel Fisher claims overt racial discrimination when the highly selective University of Texas at Austin (UT) rejected her freshman application in 2008. The Court’s ruling could range from upholding the legal precedent of allowing race to be one of many factors in admissions; to a...

Analysis of Graduate Education

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Developing Graduate Students of Color for the Professoriate in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), by Anne J. MacLachlan

Anne J. MacLachlan
2006

This paper presents part of the results of a completed study entitled A Longitudinal Study of Minority Ph.D.s from 1980-1990: Progress and Outcomes in Science and Engineering at the University of California during Graduate School and Professional Life. It focuses particularly on the graduate school experience and degree of preparation for the professoriate of African American doctoral students in the sciences and engineering, and presents the results of a survey of 33 African American STEM Ph.D.s from the University of California earned between 1980-1990....

Reforming Doctoral Education: There is a Better Way, by Rachel Spronken-Smith

Rachel Spronken-Smith
2018

The traditional apprenticeship model for PhD education involves supervisors mentoring students through a substantive research project and ultimately into academia. Although about half of PhD graduates enter careers beyond academia, this apprenticeship model, with a narrow focus on thesis research has continued to dominate in many countries. While there are variations in terms of coursework requirements, the main assessment continues to be on the PhD thesis, and, in most countries, an oral defense of this thesis. The aims of this working paper are firstly to critique the dominant models of...

Preservation of Educational Inequality in Doctoral Education: Tacit Knowledge, Implicit Bias and University Faculty, by Anne J. MacLachlan

Anne MacLachlan
2017

Making doctoral education accessible and successful for students from low income, first generation families as well as members of immigrant or specific ethnic groups is a world- wide problem. In the US the traditional explanation for the low numbers of Ph.D. recipients from these groups are lack of preparation, lack of interest and a “leaky pipeline.” These alone are not enough to explain disparities. This article argues that the most powerful vehicles of exclusion are tacit knowledge and the implicit bias of faculty and is related to doctoral/faculty socialization. Faculty share the...

Degrees of Change: How New Kinds of Professional Doctorates are Changing Higher Education Institutions, by Ami Zusman

Ami Zusman
2013

Over the past fifteen years, new types of "professional practice" doctorates in fields ranging from nursing to bioethics have increased exponentially, from near zero to over 500 programs in at least a dozen fields in the U.S. today. This growth raises many policy questions. For example, do doctorate holders serve their clients and organizations more effectively? How do new credential requirements affect access to these professions? How are they shaping institutional missions, pressures, and resource allocation? Using national data and case studies, this paper examines the forces...

California Issues

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Credential Inflation and the Professional Doctorate in California Higher Education, by Thomas J. La Belle

Thomas J. La Belle
2004

The article argues that the time has come to change California’s 1960 Master Plan for higher education by permitting the California State University (CSU) to award the doctorate in selected professional programs. The article also addresses the inadequacies of the joint doctorate as the means to remedy degree or credential creep; the CSU’s focus on securing permission to grant the Ed.D. rather than other professional doctoral degrees; and the dominant role played in the State by the CSU relative to the UC in master’s level education. Subsequently, the article considers why degree and...

Californians Redefine Academic Freedom, by Martin Trow

Martin Trow
2005

This position paper discusses the changes to the UC Academic Senate’s regulations on academic freedom and on policies for teaching potentially contentious or political issues, arguing that the new regulation has not been adequately considered in light of its detrimental effect on academic standards. Whereas previously the university’s policy had stated that faculty were not to use their teaching to "convert" students, the new regulation relies on individual instructors’ "competence" and allows for their politically committed viewpoints instead of establishing any guidelines for...

How Best to Coordinate California Higher Education: Comments on the Governor's Proposed Reforms, by Warren H. Fox

Warren H. Fox
2005

California government is now considering major reforms in the organization of higher education, specifically dismantling the state’s independent planning and coordinating agency, the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC), and placing it and the Student Aid Commission under a new position in the governor’s office, possibly a Secretary of Higher Education. This recommendation is the result of Governor Schwarzenegger’s establishment of the California Performance Review Commission, in February of 2004, to investigate possible reorganization and other reforms for reducing...

Policy Options for University of California Budgeting, by Charles E. Young

Charles E. Young
2011

Within a quarter century after the end of World War II (1945-1970), largely because of the support and investment it received from the State, the University of California had changed from two modest-size general campuses (Berkeley and Los Angeles) and the medical campus in San Francisco (UCSF), to a system of eight general campuses. California was at the pinnacle of its success-its economy strong and growing. Since then, however, the fiscal and political problems facing California have led to a steady erosion in funding support for the University of California, and now are leading to...

Exploring Funding Options for the University of California by John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2018
Despite massive cuts in state funding over the past thirty years, the University of California has managed to keep enrollment on pace with growth in population. With California’s population projected to grow 22.5 percent (from 40 to 49 million by 2040), that will no longer be the case, unless UC is able to find a new funding model. Informed by the historical analysis in the report Approaching a Tipping Point: A History and Prospectus of Funding for the University of California, this essay revisits the options for funding UC from that report, including: reinvestment by California lawmakers and...

The Effect of Selective Public Research University Enrollment: Evidence from California, by Zachary Bleemer

Zachary Bleemer
2018
What are the benefits and costs of attending a selective public research university instead of a less-selective university or college? This study examines the 2001-2011 Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) program, which guaranteed University of California admission to students in the top four percent of California high school classes. Employing a regression discontinuity design, I estimate that ELC pulled 8 percent of marginally-admitted students into four "Absorbing'' UC campuses from less-competitive public institutions in California. Those ELC compliers had lower SAT scores and family...

The One University Idea and its Futures by Patricia A. Pelfrey

Patricia A. Pelfrey
2016

The University of California, the nation’s first multicampus system, is unique in its central organizing principle, known as the one-university idea. Its premise is simple: that a large and decentralized system of campuses, which share the same mission but differ in size, interests, aspirations, and stage of development, can nevertheless be governed as a single university. Long regarded as a major structural reason for the UC system’s rise to pre-eminence among public research universities, the one-university model has been a unifying administrative and cultural ethos within UC for...

A Proposal to Eliminate the SAT in Berkeley Admissions, by Saul Geiser

Saul Geiser
2016

The SAT is used for two purposes at the University of California. First is eligibility: Determining whether applicants meet the minimum requirements for admission to the UC system. Second is admissions selection: At high-demand campuses such as Berkeley, with many more eligible applicants than places available, test scores are used to select from among them. UC policy delegates authority to the faculty at each campus to establish local admissions procedures that reflect “campus values and academic priorities.” Under the proposal outlined...

Small Liberal Arts Colleges and Enrollment Capacity at Public Universities: Imagining a Consortium Approach by Carol T. Christ

Carol Christ
2016

Many small private liberal arts colleges struggle to make their enrollment targets, while many public universities cannot meet enrollment demand. Thinking creatively about collaboration between these kinds of institutions might increase the capacity of our higher education system. This essay explores models by which we might do so.

Berkeley's New Approach to Global Engagement: Early and Current Efforts to Become More International, by Nicholas B. Dirks and Nils Gilman

Nicholas B. Dirks
Nils Gilman
2015

This essay discusses past and current thinking about the globalization of higher education (from a U.S. point of view in particular) and a new model we are attempting to develop at the University of California, Berkeley. This essay begins with a brief narrative of the historical evolution of efforts to internationalize education, from the seventeenth century to the present day, before providing a schematic outline of efforts to create new models for the global university. From its earliest beginnings in the U.S. and elsewhere, higher education embodied important global dimensions....

UC Berkeley's Adaptations to the Crisis of Public Higher Education in the US: Privatization? Commercialization? Or Hybridization? by George W. Breslauer

George W. Breslauer
2013

The University of California at Berkeley now delivers more to the public of California than it ever has, and it does this on the basis of proportionally less funding by the State government than it has ever received. This claim may come as a surprise, since it is often said that Berkeley is in the process of privatizing, becoming less of a public university and more in the service of private interests. To the contrary, as the State’s commitment to higher education and social-welfare programs has declined, UC Berkeley has struggled to preserve and even expand its public role, while...

The Management of Intercollegiate Athletics at UC Berkeley: Turning Points and Consequences, by John Cummins and Kirsten Hextrum

John Cummins
Kirsten Hextrum
2013

This white paper is based on a larger project being conducted with the Regional Oral History Office at the Bancroft Library. The purpose of the research is to explore the history of the management of Intercollegiate Athletics at UC Berkeley from the 1960s to the present. The project began in 2009 and will include, when completed, approximately 70 oral history interviews of individuals who played key roles in the management of intercollegiate athletics over that period of time – Chancellors, Athletic Directors, senior administrators, Faculty Athletic Representatives, other key faculty...

Doing Much More with Less: Implementing Operational Excellence at UC Berkeley by Andrew J. Szeri, Richard Lyons, Peggy Huston, and John Wilton

Andrew J. Szeri
Richard Lyons
Peggy Huston
John Wilton
2013

Universities are undergoing historic change, from the sharp downward shift in government funding to widespread demands to document performance. At the University of California Berkeley, this led to an operational change effort unlike any the university had ever attempted, dubbed Operational Excellence. The authors describe their experiences designing and leading this change effort, with emphasis on practical advice for similar efforts at other universities.

California's Fiscal Returns on Investments in Higher Education by Jon Stiles, Michael Hout, and Henry Brady

Jon Stiles
Michael Hout
Henry Brady
2012

The ongoing budget crisis in California raises many questions about the most effective ways to allocate resources in ways which sustain future investments. In this paper, we consider two questions: What are the benefits to the state for investing in higher education? And, how do current educational investments create an environment which supports future needs? Drawing on current and historic data on returns to education for individuals, income tax regimes, state investments in higher education, progress and completion patterns, and mechanisms which translate individual impacts into...

Revisiting California Higher Education Coordination, by David E. Leveille

David E. Leveille
2012

Accountability in postsecondary education across the nation has matured for the most part over the past five years. The same cannot be said for California. In California, the limited attention to accountability is inconsistent to the heightened focus on accountability at the national level. As a result of widespread and increasing concern about the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of California postsecondary education, its governance and the management of public postsecondary education institutions, this paper has three objectives: a)To briefly describe the state of governance...

A GLOBAL TALENT MAGNET: How a San Francisco/Bay Area Higher Education Hub Could Advance California's Comparative Advantage In Attracting International Talent and Further Build US Economic Competitiveness

John Aubrey Douglass
Richard Edelstein
Cécile Hoareau
2011

During the 2009-10 academic year international students generated more than $18.8 billion in net income into the US economy. California alone had nearly 100,000 international students with an economic impact of nearly $3.0 billion. In this paper, we outline a strategy for the San Francisco/Bay Area to double the number of international students enrolled in local colleges and universities in ten years or less, generating a total direct economic impact of an additional $1 billion a year into the regional economy. The US retains a huge market advantage for attracting foreign students....

RE-IMAGINING CALIFORNIA HIGHER EDUCATION

John Aubrey Douglass
2010

2010 marks the 50th anniversary of California’s famed Master Plan for Higher Education, arguably the single most influential effort to plan the future of a system of higher education in the annals of American higher education. This essay builds on the analysis offered in a previous CSHE research paper (“From Chaos to Order and Back”) by discussing the major challenges facing California’s higher education system, and offering a possibly pathway to reforms and institution-building essential for bolstering socioeconomic mobility and greater economic competitiveness. Most critics and...

FROM CHAOS TO ORDER AND BACK?A Revisionist Reflection on the California Master Plan for Higher Education@50 and Thoughts About its Future

John Aubrey Douglass
2010

In 1960, California developed a "master plan" for its already famed public higher education system. It was and continues to be arguably the single most influential effort to plan the future of a system of higher education in the annals of American higher education. Despite popular belief, however, the California Master Plan for Higher Education is more important for what it preserved than what it created. There is much confusion regarding exactly how the Master Plan came about, what it said and did not say, and what portions of it are still relevant today. This essay provides a brief...

E-Learning

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Online education platforms scale college STEM instruction with equivalent learning outcomes at lower cost

Igor Chirikov
Tatiana Semenova
Natalia Maloshonok
Eric Bettinger
René F. Kizilcec
2020

Meeting global demand for growing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce requires solutions for the shortage of qualified instructors. We propose and evaluate a model for scaling up affordable access to effective STEM education through national online education platforms. These platforms allow resource-constrained higher education institutions to adopt online courses produced by the country’s top universities and departments. A multisite randomized controlled trial tested this model with fully online and blended instruction modalities in Russia’s...

Higher Education in the Digital Age: A U.S. Perspective on Why Accurate Predictions May Be Difficult

Diane Harley
2001

This paper analyzes some of the ways in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are being employed as possible solutions to the triad of pressures facing US research universities: (a) holding down costs, (b) providing access to an increasingly diverse demographic, and (c) maintaining quality. It presents the preliminary results of a large research project investigating the economic and pedagogical impacts of technology enhancements in a large lecture course at the University of California, Berkeley. Findings from this study, as well as a review of activities taking place...

The Role of US Higher Education in the Global E-Learning Market

Marijk Van der Wende
2002

This paper analyzes system and institutional level responses to the growing demand for e-learning in the US in comparison with a number of other countries and regions. It reviews the external forces and factors that are driving institutions to introduce and use ICT in this area and investigates in particular the role of globalisation and increasing competition. The responses of institutions to the changing (global) environment are discussed with respect to e-learning models and international strategies. Finally, a number of future scenarios are presented as well as an outline for research...

University-Industry Relations in the Market for Online Courses and Degrees

Steven Brint
Katrina Paxton-Jorgenson
Eric Vega
2003

The market for online courses and degrees has continued to grow in recent years in spite of an overall slowdown in the growth of Internet-related industries. Who will control the new market for online courses and degrees - universities or corporations, or will a division of labor emerge between the two? What are the advantages of universities and corporations in this new market, and what are their liabilities? Will widely-endorsed models of "blended" online learning, which require some face-to-face interaction, become the norm, or will most courses substitute chat rooms and bulletin boards...

Strategies for E-Learning in Universities

Chris Curran
2004

This paper examines the e-learning strategies adopted by universities, from the perspective of three common objectives: widening access to educational opportunity; enhancing the quality of learning; and reducing the cost of higher education. The discussion is illustrated by drawing on case studies of universities in Europe and the United States. It is concluded that the most striking characteristic of the e-learning strategies adopted by universities is their diversity, and inherent characteristic of adaptability in use and flexibility in application. The implicit compatibility with...

Open Learning: What Do Open Textbooks Tell Us About the Revolution in Education?

Gary M. Matkin
2009

This paper provides a summary and assessment of the current development of open textbooks and describes a possible direction for future development and funded support of open textbook projects. This paper provides answers to the following questions: Why do we need open textbooks? What are open textbooks (in their various forms)? How are open textbooks developed and distributed? And finally, when will open textbooks be produced? As these questions are addressed, other dimensions relevant to the Open Education Resource (OER) movement are also revealed and discussed.

Global Trends and Issues/Comparative Studies

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John Douglass Featured in CSSN Article on Global University Rankings

March 6, 2025

We are pleased to announce that John Aubrey Douglass, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), was recently featured in an article by the Chinese Social Sciences Net (CSSN). The article, titled "Reflecting on the Deficiencies and Shortcomings of Global University Ranking Systems," delves into the origins, impacts, and inherent flaws of global university rankings, drawing insights from experts including Douglass.

In the article, Douglass discusses the emergence of global university rankings as tools for governments to assess the value and quality...

https://www.cssn.cn/skgz/bwyc/202503/t20250305_5855661.shtml

All Globalization Is Local: Countervailing Forces and the Influence on Higher Education Markets

John Aubrey Douglass
2005

Globalization trends and innovations in the instructional technologies are widely believed to be creating new markets and forcing a revolution in higher education. Much of the rhetoric of "globalists" has presented a simplistic analysis of a paradigm shift in higher education markets and the way nations and institutions deliver educational services. This essay provides an analytical framework for understanding global influences on national higher education systems. It then identifies and discusses the "countervailing forces" to globalization that help to illuminate the complexities...

A Third Wave of International Student Mobility: Global Competitiveness and American Higher Education, by Rahul Choudaha

Rahul Choudaha
2018

International students are critical to the competitiveness of American higher education in terms of financial, intercultural, and educational contributions. However, recent data indicates that the U.S institutions enrolled 31,520 fewer international students in Fall 2017 as compared to Fall 2016. At average tuition and fees of US$ 25,000, higher education institutions are likely to lose potential revenue of US$ 788 million for the first year of studies alone. This paper examines the shifting landscape of international enrollment from the lens of three overlapping Waves spread over seven...

Quality and the new Flagship University Ideal in Asian Higher Education, by David P. Ericson

David P. Ericson
2017

A singular vision has propelled higher education and ministries of education in Asia since the new millennium. It is a vision launched
by the once rising tide of a globalized world order that spilled into higher education: in order to be competitive on the world scene,
each Asian country had to build “World Class Universities,” which could be compared and rank-ordered with the pre-eminent
research universities of America, Britain and elsewhere. And if the pre-eminent American and British research universities could
not be quickly surpassed, punctuated jumps up the status ladder...

Knowledge Based Economic Areas and Flagship Universities: A Look at the New Growth Ecosystems in the US and California by John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2016

The acceptance of new growth theory relates, in part, to a number of highly touted regional success stories – or what I term “Knowledge Based Economic Areas” (KBEAs) in this and past essays. The United States, and California in particular, is viewed as perhaps the most robust creators of KBEAs, providing an influential model that is visited and revisited by business and government leaders, and other Flagship (or leading national) universities, that wish to replicate their strengths within their own cultural and political terms. While California has a number of unique characteristics...

How Global Competition is Changing Universities: Three Theoretical Perspectives by Igor Chirikov

Igor Chirikov
2016

This essay provides an outline of three theoretical perspectives to study the impact of global competition on organizational change at universities. The perspective of neoliberal economics portrays global competition as competition of universities in the global higher education market. Universities transform towards greater efficiency with the goal of having a larger market share. The political economy perspective suggests that global competition in higher education is an emergent property of competitive relations among nation states. Universities change in the direction of increased...

Profiling the Flagship University Model: An Exploratory Proposal for Changing the Paradigm From Ranking to Relevancy, by John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2014

It’s a familiar if not fully explained paradigm. A “World Class University” (WCU) is supposed to have highly ranked research output, a culture of excellence, great facilities, and a brand name that transcends national borders. But perhaps most importantly, the particular institution needs to sit in the upper echelons of one or more world rankings generated each year by non-profit and for-profit entities. That is the ultimate proof for many government ministers and for much of the global higher education community. Or is it? It is not that current rankings are not useful and...

Macro-Environmental Mapping of International Branch Campus Activities of Universities Worldwide by Anna Kosmützky and Georg Krücken

Anna Kosmützky
Georg Krücken
2014

The paper provides an initial international comparative empirical assessment of international branch campuses (IBCs) worldwide. Building on neo-institutional theory and organizational ecology, it sheds light on the new organizational form by analyzing their founding age of the home university and IBC mortality. Furthermore the paper analyzes the organizational form of home institutions that establish such an international branch abroad, in terms of size, age, ranking positions and range of disciplines, and peeks into an educational hub with a high density of international branch...

Comprehending the International Initiatives of Universities: A Taxonomy of Modes of Engagement and Institutional Logics, by Richard J. Edelstein and John Aubrey Douglass

Richard J. Edelstein
John Aubrey Douglass
2012

The paper examines the behavior of universities at the level of the individual institution to create a taxonomy of actions and logics used to initiate international activities, engagements, and academic programs. The taxonomy is organized utilizing the concepts of activity clusters, modes of engagement, and institutional logics. Its purpose is to provide a framework for future research as well as a tool for scholars and practitioners to better analyze and understand what has become a rush by many universities to become more engaged globally. After a brief discussion of the importance...

Trends Towards Global Excellence in Undergraduate Education: Taking the Liberal Arts Experience into the 21st Century, by Marijk van der Wende

Marijk van der Wende
2012

Dissatisfaction over undergraduate education seems to be persistent and has been jeopardized by the boost in research performance as fuelled by global rankings. Yet it will continue to be the cornerstone and a key mission of higher education. Hence the tide is shifting and the global debate on “the world-class university” is increasingly inclusive towards excellence in teaching and learning. A renewed focus on liberal arts education is part of this global debate on redefining excellence. This article aims to explain why liberal arts education, as it is (re)emerging in different...

HIGHER EDUCATION BUDGETS AND THE GLOBAL RECESSION: Tracking Varied National Responses and Their Consequences

John Aubrey Douglass
2010

In the midst of the global recession, how have national governments viewed the role of higher education in their evolving strategies for economic recovery? Demand for higher education generally goes up during economic downturns. Which nations
have proactively protected funding for their universities and colleges to help maintain access, to help retrain workers, and to mitigate unemployment rates? And which nations have simply made large funding cuts for higher education in light of the severe downturn in tax revenues? This essay provides a moment-in-time review of the...

Governance, Management and Budget

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What's for Sale These Days in Higher Education: Two Stories, by Robert M. Rosenzweig

Robert M. Rosenzweig
1999

"What's for sale and what isn't?" The author has no doubt that we will see more corporate involvement in teaching and research. Universities will increasingly sell or rent to corporations those activities to which a dollar value can be attached that is agreeable to both sides. The financial pressures on universities and the value of what they do, as perceived by widening sectors of business, make that close to inevitable. The author, however, is dubious that many universities can be trusted to know the difference between what is marginal and what is central.

Politics, Markets, and University Costs: Financing Universities in the Current Era, by Roger L. Geiger

Roger L. Geiger
2000

The purpose of this study is to determine the factors shaping the financing of the principal universities of the United States, and to explore the consequences for institutions and for students. Revenues are the lifeblood of these or any other universities. The level of resources that universities command from society determines the level and scope of their activities, and who provides these resources greatly affects their behavior. Moreover, where resources are concerned, both inequality and inconsistency have been the rule. During the 1980s, universities generally were able to lift their...

The Corporation of Learning: Nonprofit Higher Education Takes Lessons from Business, by David L. Kirp

David L. Kirp
2019

This essay examines the ways in which nonprofit universities increasingly emulate businesses, focusing on two of the most direct forms of emulation: the creation of internal university markets at the University of Southern California through adoption of variants of resource center management (RCM) and the privatization of public higher education at the University of Virginia.

The Dynamics of Variable Fees: Exploring Institutional and Public Policy Responses, by David Ward and John Aubrey Douglass

David Ward
John Aubrey Douglass
2005

Variable fees at the graduate and undergraduate levels are a topic of discussion in the US and in the EU as part of a larger movement towards increasing the role of fees in the funding of public universities. This essay describes this relatively new shift and its causes, outlines various funding models related to fee levels, and discusses the possible policy implications of variable fee structures. Here we argue that much of the movement toward increased fees in places such as the US and the UK is being pursued incrementally, without an adequate discussion of the long-term...

Federal, State, and Local Governments: University Patrons, Partners, or Protagonists? by Charles M. Vest

Charles M. Vest
2006

Charles Vest gave the first of three Clark Kerr Lectures on the Role of Higher Education in Society on April 19, 2005 on the Berkeley campus. This essay argues that research-intensive public and private universities increasingly have far more similarities than differences in missions, structures, and even financial support. For both, the federal government, despite numerous tensions, remains our indispensable partner. At the same time, the role of state governments toward their public universities has evolved from that of patron to that of partner - sometimes a minor partner financially....

Markets in Higher Education: Can We Still Learn from Economics' Founding Fathers? by Pedro Nuno Teixeira

Pedro Nuno Teixeira
2006

Markets or market-like mechanisms are playing an increasing role in higher education, with visible consequences both for the regulation of higher education systems as a whole, as well as for the governance mechanisms of individual institutions. This article traces the history of economists’ views on the role of education, from Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Alfred Marshall, and Milton Friedman, to present-day debates about the relevance of market economies to higher education policy. Recent developments in higher education policy reflect both the rising strength of market mechanisms in...

The Crisis of the Publics: An International Comparative Discussion on Higher Education Reforms and Possible Implications for US Public Universities, by C. Judson King, John Aubrey Douglass, and Irwin Feller

C. Judson King
John Aubrey Douglass
Irwin Feller
2007

National systems of public higher education are in a state of flux. Throughout the world, a shift is occurring in the support and perception of the purpose of public research universities. Many national governments are attempting to bend their higher education systems to meet their perceived long-term socio-economic needs. At the same time, there are relatively new supranational influences on higher education markets and practices that will grow in influence over time, including the Bologna Agreement, the European Commission, the pending General Agreement on Trade and Services, and...

Hedgehogs, Foxes, Leadership Renewal and Succession Planning, by Cristina Gonzalez

Cristina Gonzalez
2007

This article examines the intellectual history of The Uses of the University, including the influence of José Ortega y Gasset’s ideas about higher education, with a view to exploring Clark Kerr’s vision for the university and how that vision might be expanded to take account of present challenges, in particular, diversity. The paper, which calls for leadership renewal and succession planning, pays special attention to the two types of administrators defined by Kerr--the visionary hedgehog and the shrewd fox. We need to identify the hedgehogs and foxes of the future, who must be as diverse...

Executive Compensation at the University of California: An Alternative View, by Patricia A. Pelfrey

Patricia A. Pelfrey
2008

The 2005-6 executive compensation controversy at the University of California has been explained as the result of a massive breach of compliance with the University’s compensation policies by the Office of the President (UCOP). For more than a decade, the explanation goes, UCOP failed to comply with its own compensation policies, embodied in the 1992-93 Principles for Review of Executive Compensation, and engaged in a longstanding pattern of secrecy and policy violations. This paper argues that both assertions are wrong. It begins by analyzing the issues leading to adoption of the...

Leadership, Diversity and Succession Planning in Academia, by Cristina Gonzalez

Cristina Gonzalez
2010

Although academia is becoming more like business in many respects - not all of them positive - it has not borrowed one of the best attributes of business culture: its tradition of developing leadership through succession planning. As a result, much talent is underutilized. This includes, most prominently, that of women and minorities, who tend not to be perceived as leadership material. This paper makes a distinction between two levels of academic administrators: deans and above, who are professional administrators, and department chairs and below, who could be characterized as...

The Multidisciplinary Imperative in Higher Education, by C. Judson King

C. Judson King
2010

Disciplines codify related knowledge and have developed powerful approaches that enable both solutions to a wide variety of problems and efficient further extension of knowledge. Individual disciplines have translated into individual departments within universities. Academic departments tend to turn inward, deepening the knowledge within the discipline. Because of this inwardness, the differing methodological approaches among disciplines, and the reward systems within disciplines and universities, it is difficult for faculty to reach outside their disciplines and departments, so as to...

American Universities in Trumpland​ ​-​ ​Financial​ ​Ruin​ ​Averted? by John​ ​Aubrey​ ​Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2017

The Trump administration has no significant plan or strategy related to higher education. The only major policy declarations -- to eliminate federal regulations on for-profit colleges and revisit federal guidelines on sexual assault on college campuses – both unravel policies developed under the Obama administration. Where the fate of higher education lies is in the innumerable initiatives bent on pleasing Trump’s base and in the search for some sort of major legislative victory. As of this writing, this now includes a Republican coalition that wants to cut the funding for most federal...

A Cautionary Analysis of a Billion Dollar Athletic Expenditure by John Cummins

John Cummins
2017

This paper is a description and analysis of the history of the renovation of Memorial Stadium and the building of the Barclay Simpson Student Athlete High Performance Center (SAHPC) on the Berkeley campus, showing how incremental changes over time result in a much riskier and financially less viable project than originally anticipated. It describes the decision making process, the role of various constituent groups including senior administrators and the UC Regents, faculty, community members and local and state governmental officials, donors and protesters. It includes the legal...

Restructuring Public Higher Education Governance to Succeed in a Highly Competitive Environment by James A. Hyatt

James A. Hyatt
2015

Given diminished governmental support, competition from private counterparts, and public demands for access to services, public universities need to respond in an effective manner to take advantage of opportunities and meet the challenges of today’s highly competitive environment. A critical factor in meeting these challenges is the manner in which these institutions are governed. Today’s governance structures must enhance institutions’ ability to generate resources from multiple sources - tuition and fees, gifts from donors, governmental support, and partnerships with the private...

On the Apportionment of Administrative Governance Functions Within Multi-Campus Universities and University Systems, by C. Judson King

C. Judson King
2013

Most public universities in the United States are formed into systems, containing more than one university or campus. There are clear rationales for these systems, including overall planning and coordination, budgeting efficiency, and effectiveness of dealings with the state government. The distribution of internal governance functions between the system level and the individual-campus level has, however, been a source of continual tension for understandable reasons. Although there can be no hard and fast rules for the division of administrative functions between the system-wide...

Let's Not Railroad American Higher Education! By Henry Brady

Henry Brady
2013

Politics, economics, and technology have conspired to make this an exceptionally challenging time for American higher education. Some critics claim that costs are out of control in traditional public and private nonprofit higher education. They believe these institutions will soon go the way of the railroads as for-profit institutions displace them and the Internet replaces college campuses and classrooms. Other critics bemoan the privatization of higher education and the increasing role of market forces. Still others think higher education has lost its way and fails to focus on...

Yes, but can they earn a living? Methods for creating an effective system of Measuring Labor Market Outcomes in Higher Education, by Richard W. Moore, Kenneth Chapman, Bettina Huber, and Mark Shors

Richard W. Moore
Kenneth Chapman
Bettina Huber
Mark Shors
2013

A new federal initiative calls for a College Scorecard which will include a yet to be determined measure of graduate earnings. In this paper we examine the political context that drives this initiative and examine the nascent efforts of four states to develop statewide systems to measure the labor market outcomes of higher education. We propose five principles to support a system that would generate valid labor market measures that could cut across all segments of higher education in California, and disaggregate down to campuses, departments and programs. We present results from a...

Board Governance of Public University Systems: Stresses and Needs, by C. Judson King

C. Judson King
2012

Modes of board-level governance for public universities and especially public university systems should be re-examined in view of growing major forces that create both challenges and opportunities that are enormous for public higher education. To sustain the public mission and rise to the challenges and opportunities, there is a growing need to enhance funding from a variety of different sources, many of them private, and to map them onto new initiatives, partnerships, and directions of change. Boards of public universities need to develop new dimensions, including several of the...

Tales of University Devolution: Organizational Behavior in the Age of Markets, by John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2012

n the wake of the Cold War era, America’s research universities became increasingly characterized by a tribal mentality among schools and departments, and disciplines. The surge in research funding, and the tremendous growth rate among the major public universities in particular, fostered the idea of the “multiversity” was becoming less communal, and less aware of the collective purpose. These patterns have accelerated considerably over the past two decades in the US that reflect three relatively new realities or influences: a) within the public university sector, decreasing public...

On the Brink: Assessing the Status of the American Faculty, by Jack H. Schuster and Martin J. Finkelstein

Jack H. Schuster
Martin J. Finkelstein
2007
This paper focuses on the present condition and future of the professoriate and is part of a long-term study on how the academic profession is changing, now more rapidly than at any time in memory. These dramatic shifts have led to a deep restructuring of academic appointments, work, and careers. The question now looming is whether the forces that have triggered academic restructuring will, in time, so transform the academic profession that its role—its unique contribution—is becoming ever more vulnerable to dangerous compromise. Whether the academic profession is able to negotiate successfully its role in the new era—to preserve core values and to ensure the indispensable contributions of the academy to society—remains to be seen.

International Case Studies

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CSHE Joined an IHEP Coalition Urging Congress to Protect Postsecondary Data

March 11, 2025

Protect Postsecondary Data

On March 10, the Institue for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) led a coalition of 87 organizations and individual researchers in sending a letter to Congress elevating deep concerns regarding recent Institute of Education Sciences (IES) research and data collection cancellations. CSHE is honored to join the coalition. These cancellations not only disrupt critical...

SERU Multi-Engagement Report

SERU Multi-Engagement Report

Zachary A. Pardos

Associate Professor
Berkeley School of Education

Dr. Pardos is an Associate Professor of Education at UC Berkeley studying adaptive learning and AI. His current research focuses on knowledge representation and recommender systems approaches to increasing upward mobility in postsecondary education using behavioral and semantic data.

He earned his PhD in Computer Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a dissertation on computational models of cognitive mastery. Funded by a National Science Foundation Fellowship (GK-12), he spent extensive time with K-12 educators and students working to integrate educational technology into...

John Douglass Featured in CSSN Article on Global University Rankings

March 6, 2025

We are pleased to announce that John Aubrey Douglass, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), was recently featured in an article by the Chinese Social Sciences Net (CSSN). The article, titled "Reflecting on the Deficiencies and Shortcomings of Global University Ranking Systems," delves into the origins, impacts, and inherent flaws of global university rankings, drawing insights from experts including Douglass.

In the article, Douglass discusses the emergence of global university rankings as tools for governments to assess the value and quality...

https://www.cssn.cn/skgz/bwyc/202503/t20250305_5855661.shtml

CSHE's Anne MacLachlan and Faculty Affiliate Jonathan Glater Featured in The Daily Californian

February 25, 2025

Anne MacLachlan, Senior Research Associate at CSHE, was quoted in a recent report from The Daily Californian, in response to the "Dear Colleague" letter from the Department of Education.

“Our motto is let there be light,” MacLachlan said. “Generally, that’s what universities stand for. That light has to keep on shining by people who are going to continue to teach, implement, all of those things that we believe in. Each institution has to stand up and say, ‘This is illegal; we’re not doing it.’ If universities are not going to clearly stand up for values of open...

https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/uc-berkeley-faculty-respond-to-department-o…

John A. Douglass on the Future of U.S. Research Amid Federal Funding Cuts

February 18, 2025

John Aubrey Douglass, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) at UC Berkeley, was recently quoted in E&E News regarding the significant challenges facing U.S. research institutions under new federal funding restrictions.

A recent report highlights how the Trump administration’s policy changes, including major cuts to research funding and the elimination of federal programs tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), are creating uncertainty for universities and scientists nationwide. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)...

Meet CSHE Capstone Awardees

January 29, 2025

We are delighted to introduce the two outstanding recipients of the first-ever CSHE Capstone Award! These exceptional students impressed us with their innovative ideas and their commitment to addressing critical challenges in higher education. We are proud to support their efforts and look forward to seeing the meaningful impact their work will have on the future of academia.

Read on to learn more about our awardees and their inspiring projects!...

CSHE January 2025 Newsletter

January 29, 2025

CSHE January 2025 Newsletter

CSHE January 2025 Newsletter Available Now!

College Futures Foundation Awarded $200,000 to the California College Data and Policy Project

January 28, 2025

College Futures Foundation Grant

A new grant from College Futures Foundation will support research to improve the take-up of CalFresh benefits by students in the state’s three main systems of higher education, including the University of California, the California Community College System, and the California State University.

This is the first...

Steven Brint discusses Trumpian Dystopia with the Chronicle of Higher Education

January 21, 2025

Steven Brint talks Trumpian dystopia, the administrator-activist alliance, and the role of higher ed’s political center.

"There needs to be a rousing defense of the sector. We’ve seen confidence — not only on the Republican side, though it’s most pronounced on the Republican side — in higher education plummet since 2015. We need to restore that if we want a more resilient and effective sector. We need to have leaders who are going out there and talking publicly about the contributions that universities are making to the economic life of the country. There’s a huge story...

https://www.chronicle.com/article/there-needs-to-be-a-rousing-defense-of-the-sec…

Research

"Leading A University is Set to Become Even More Difficult"--Top Story by CSHE Senior Researcher John Aubrey Douglass

January 15, 2025
John Aubrey Douglass

CSHE Senior Researcher John Aubrey Douglass is featured in the top story in the first University World News Global Edition of 2025.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20250110104204107

CSHE Scholars Provide Key Insights on UC Enrollment Patterns

January 13, 2025

CSHE Senior Researcher John Aubrey Douglass and CSHE Senior Associate Saul Geiser quoted in an Inside Higher Education article on the UC enrollment data trend.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2025/01/10/state-…

Universities as Truthsayers

John Aubrey Douglass
2025

The Allure of Free Tuition

John Aubrey Douglass
2025

New Research Grant for the CCDPP Project

We are thrilled to announce that the California College Data and Policy Project (CCDPP) has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the College Futures Foundation! CCDPP is led by Jesse Rothstein, Professor of Publicy Policy and Economics and facutly director of the California Policy Lab and Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education. This generous funding empowers collaboration between University of California researchers and government partners to deeply explore the landscape of CalFresh eligibility and take-up among California higher education students. By unraveling the challenges...

CSHE Capstone Funding Competition: Applications Now Open!

December 13, 2024
Funding your capstone Are you seeking financial support for your Capstone Project on higher education?

The Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) has recently identified funding for a small number of fellowships for GSPP Capstone projects. We invite applications from MPP, MPA, and MDP students whose innovative projects advance the Center’s mission of illuminating higher...

CSHE Capstone Project Funding 2025

Are you seeking financial support for your Capstone Project on higher education? The Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) has recently identified funding for a small number of fellowships for GSPP Capstone projects. We invite applications from MPP, MPA, and MDP students whose innovative projects advance the Center’s mission of illuminating higher education through impactful research and policy insights. Award amounts will be determined based on individual project needs, with a strong commitment to ensuring that Fellows are fully funded to execute their Capstone projects effectively...

SERU Research Report on Graduate Student Experiences in Japan

2024

Given the perceived imbalance in resource allocation and the recognized disparities in degree completion rates across academic disciplines in Japan's higher education system, this study explores the perceptions and experiences of graduate students through a comparison between graduate students in Humanities and Social Sciences and those in Sciences and Engineering. Osaka University has been chosen as the case study because it is one of the former empirical and research-intensive universities located in the international city of Osaka, Japan, which is well-known as one of the most DEI-...

Scholarly Communication

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CSHE Joined an IHEP Coalition Urging Congress to Protect Postsecondary Data

March 11, 2025

Protect Postsecondary Data

On March 10, the Institue for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) led a coalition of 87 organizations and individual researchers in sending a letter to Congress elevating deep concerns regarding recent Institute of Education Sciences (IES) research and data collection cancellations. CSHE is honored to join the coalition. These cancellations not only disrupt critical...

SERU Multi-Engagement Report

SERU Multi-Engagement Report

Zachary A. Pardos

Associate Professor
Berkeley School of Education

Dr. Pardos is an Associate Professor of Education at UC Berkeley studying adaptive learning and AI. His current research focuses on knowledge representation and recommender systems approaches to increasing upward mobility in postsecondary education using behavioral and semantic data.

He earned his PhD in Computer Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a dissertation on computational models of cognitive mastery. Funded by a National Science Foundation Fellowship (GK-12), he spent extensive time with K-12 educators and students working to integrate educational technology into...

Science and Technology

collapse all expand all

CSHE Joined an IHEP Coalition Urging Congress to Protect Postsecondary Data

March 11, 2025

Protect Postsecondary Data

On March 10, the Institue for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) led a coalition of 87 organizations and individual researchers in sending a letter to Congress elevating deep concerns regarding recent Institute of Education Sciences (IES) research and data collection cancellations. CSHE is honored to join the coalition. These cancellations not only disrupt critical...

SERU Multi-Engagement Report

SERU Multi-Engagement Report

Zachary A. Pardos

Associate Professor
Berkeley School of Education

Dr. Pardos is an Associate Professor of Education at UC Berkeley studying adaptive learning and AI. His current research focuses on knowledge representation and recommender systems approaches to increasing upward mobility in postsecondary education using behavioral and semantic data.

He earned his PhD in Computer Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a dissertation on computational models of cognitive mastery. Funded by a National Science Foundation Fellowship (GK-12), he spent extensive time with K-12 educators and students working to integrate educational technology into...

John Douglass Featured in CSSN Article on Global University Rankings

March 6, 2025

We are pleased to announce that John Aubrey Douglass, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), was recently featured in an article by the Chinese Social Sciences Net (CSSN). The article, titled "Reflecting on the Deficiencies and Shortcomings of Global University Ranking Systems," delves into the origins, impacts, and inherent flaws of global university rankings, drawing insights from experts including Douglass.

In the article, Douglass discusses the emergence of global university rankings as tools for governments to assess the value and quality...

https://www.cssn.cn/skgz/bwyc/202503/t20250305_5855661.shtml

CSHE's Anne MacLachlan and Faculty Affiliate Jonathan Glater Featured in The Daily Californian

February 25, 2025

Anne MacLachlan, Senior Research Associate at CSHE, was quoted in a recent report from The Daily Californian, in response to the "Dear Colleague" letter from the Department of Education.

“Our motto is let there be light,” MacLachlan said. “Generally, that’s what universities stand for. That light has to keep on shining by people who are going to continue to teach, implement, all of those things that we believe in. Each institution has to stand up and say, ‘This is illegal; we’re not doing it.’ If universities are not going to clearly stand up for values of open...

https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/uc-berkeley-faculty-respond-to-department-o…

John A. Douglass on the Future of U.S. Research Amid Federal Funding Cuts

February 18, 2025

John Aubrey Douglass, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) at UC Berkeley, was recently quoted in E&E News regarding the significant challenges facing U.S. research institutions under new federal funding restrictions.

A recent report highlights how the Trump administration’s policy changes, including major cuts to research funding and the elimination of federal programs tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), are creating uncertainty for universities and scientists nationwide. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)...

Undergraduate Education

collapse all expand all

CSHE Joined an IHEP Coalition Urging Congress to Protect Postsecondary Data

March 11, 2025

Protect Postsecondary Data

On March 10, the Institue for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) led a coalition of 87 organizations and individual researchers in sending a letter to Congress elevating deep concerns regarding recent Institute of Education Sciences (IES) research and data collection cancellations. CSHE is honored to join the coalition. These cancellations not only disrupt critical...

SERU Multi-Engagement Report

SERU Multi-Engagement Report

Zachary A. Pardos

Associate Professor
Berkeley School of Education

Dr. Pardos is an Associate Professor of Education at UC Berkeley studying adaptive learning and AI. His current research focuses on knowledge representation and recommender systems approaches to increasing upward mobility in postsecondary education using behavioral and semantic data.

He earned his PhD in Computer Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a dissertation on computational models of cognitive mastery. Funded by a National Science Foundation Fellowship (GK-12), he spent extensive time with K-12 educators and students working to integrate educational technology into...

John Douglass Featured in CSSN Article on Global University Rankings

March 6, 2025

We are pleased to announce that John Aubrey Douglass, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), was recently featured in an article by the Chinese Social Sciences Net (CSSN). The article, titled "Reflecting on the Deficiencies and Shortcomings of Global University Ranking Systems," delves into the origins, impacts, and inherent flaws of global university rankings, drawing insights from experts including Douglass.

In the article, Douglass discusses the emergence of global university rankings as tools for governments to assess the value and quality...

https://www.cssn.cn/skgz/bwyc/202503/t20250305_5855661.shtml

CSHE's Anne MacLachlan and Faculty Affiliate Jonathan Glater Featured in The Daily Californian

February 25, 2025

Anne MacLachlan, Senior Research Associate at CSHE, was quoted in a recent report from The Daily Californian, in response to the "Dear Colleague" letter from the Department of Education.

“Our motto is let there be light,” MacLachlan said. “Generally, that’s what universities stand for. That light has to keep on shining by people who are going to continue to teach, implement, all of those things that we believe in. Each institution has to stand up and say, ‘This is illegal; we’re not doing it.’ If universities are not going to clearly stand up for values of open...

https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/uc-berkeley-faculty-respond-to-department-o…

John A. Douglass on the Future of U.S. Research Amid Federal Funding Cuts

February 18, 2025

John Aubrey Douglass, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) at UC Berkeley, was recently quoted in E&E News regarding the significant challenges facing U.S. research institutions under new federal funding restrictions.

A recent report highlights how the Trump administration’s policy changes, including major cuts to research funding and the elimination of federal programs tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), are creating uncertainty for universities and scientists nationwide. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)...

Meet CSHE Capstone Awardees

January 29, 2025

We are delighted to introduce the two outstanding recipients of the first-ever CSHE Capstone Award! These exceptional students impressed us with their innovative ideas and their commitment to addressing critical challenges in higher education. We are proud to support their efforts and look forward to seeing the meaningful impact their work will have on the future of academia.

Read on to learn more about our awardees and their inspiring projects!...

CSHE January 2025 Newsletter

January 29, 2025

CSHE January 2025 Newsletter

CSHE January 2025 Newsletter Available Now!

College Futures Foundation Awarded $200,000 to the California College Data and Policy Project

January 28, 2025

College Futures Foundation Grant

A new grant from College Futures Foundation will support research to improve the take-up of CalFresh benefits by students in the state’s three main systems of higher education, including the University of California, the California Community College System, and the California State University.

This is the first...

Steven Brint discusses Trumpian Dystopia with the Chronicle of Higher Education

January 21, 2025

Steven Brint talks Trumpian dystopia, the administrator-activist alliance, and the role of higher ed’s political center.

"There needs to be a rousing defense of the sector. We’ve seen confidence — not only on the Republican side, though it’s most pronounced on the Republican side — in higher education plummet since 2015. We need to restore that if we want a more resilient and effective sector. We need to have leaders who are going out there and talking publicly about the contributions that universities are making to the economic life of the country. There’s a huge story...

https://www.chronicle.com/article/there-needs-to-be-a-rousing-defense-of-the-sec…

Research

"Leading A University is Set to Become Even More Difficult"--Top Story by CSHE Senior Researcher John Aubrey Douglass

January 15, 2025
John Aubrey Douglass

CSHE Senior Researcher John Aubrey Douglass is featured in the top story in the first University World News Global Edition of 2025.

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20250110104204107

CSHE Scholars Provide Key Insights on UC Enrollment Patterns

January 13, 2025

CSHE Senior Researcher John Aubrey Douglass and CSHE Senior Associate Saul Geiser quoted in an Inside Higher Education article on the UC enrollment data trend.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2025/01/10/state-…

Universities as Truthsayers

John Aubrey Douglass
2025

The Allure of Free Tuition

John Aubrey Douglass
2025

New Research Grant for the CCDPP Project

We are thrilled to announce that the California College Data and Policy Project (CCDPP) has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the College Futures Foundation! CCDPP is led by Jesse Rothstein, Professor of Publicy Policy and Economics and facutly director of the California Policy Lab and Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education. This generous funding empowers collaboration between University of California researchers and government partners to deeply explore the landscape of CalFresh eligibility and take-up among California higher education students. By unraveling the challenges...