top of page
Joanne Jacobs
4 days ago2 min read
Credits for competency makes sense -- if colleges avoid the credit-recovery route
"Competency-based" education makes sense -- if students really are competent.
3 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Jan 62 min read
'Give yourself a break' is bad advice: Do difficult things!
Young people need to believe they can do difficult things. Don't tell them they're fragile.
4 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 20, 20241 min read
Is a college degree worth the cost? 45% say 'no'
Americans think college costs too much and want more focus on preparing students for jobs.
2 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 12, 20242 min read
STEM students will face sink-or-swim calculus in California
California community colleges will require unprepared STEM majors to be placed in calculus.
4 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 12, 20241 min read
If tests are optional, calculus is mandatory for aspiring students
Taking AP Calculus is almost obligatory for students applying for top colleges, even if they aren't interested in math or science majors.
1 comment
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 9, 20242 min read
Glittering prizes: Can non-elite college grads become masters of the universe?
It's college application time again. Ambitious 12th-graders are polishing their essays, wondering if mentioning their grandmother's claim...
2 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 7, 20242 min read
Is DEI doomed?
University DEI programs are losing popularity on campus and off.
1 comment
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 4, 20241 min read
'Woke' (or wokeish) courses are cut from core list at Florida universities
Courses that teach identity politics or systemic racism will be electives -- not core courses -- at Florida's state universities.
0 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Dec 4, 20242 min read
The Trump 'reckoning' for higher ed: No more easy money
Colleges aren't going to like Trump's higher education agenda , predicts economist Richard K. Vedder. He's the author of the forthcoming...
1 comment
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 26, 20241 min read
A black professor leaves academia: 'Critical thinking became critical feeling'
Erec Smith, formerly a professor of rhetoric and composition, got tired of colleagues calling him "inauthentically Black" because he...
2 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 26, 20241 min read
Free thinking at UATX
60 Minutes has a very positive story on the University of Austin , which admitted its first class of students this fall. Students are...
3 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 24, 20242 min read
College students are young adults - not fragile children
Stop babying college students and teach them that they're living in a diverse, pluralistic democracy.
0 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 23, 20242 min read
Yale liberals: We envy conservatives because they're learning to think and we're not
Yale liberals say they envy conservative classmates who are learning how to understand other points of view and argue for their ideas.
1 comment
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 21, 20242 min read
Edumania! McMahon is tapped as education secretary
Pro wrestling executive and former Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon will be the next and possibly last Education...
5 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 19, 20242 min read
Ivy crazy: Should colleges make merit broader -- and fuzzier?
" The meritocracy isn't working ," writes David Brooks in The Atlantic . Ambitious parents "ferry their kids from one supervised...
5 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 14, 20242 min read
Is everybody cheating?
Cheating is common for college students. Many think A is the only acceptable grade.
6 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 12, 20241 min read
College presidents, it's going to be a bumpy ride
Trump is likely to go after elite colleges and favor vocational education.
0 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 7, 20242 min read
What do you want to do when you grow up?
Working-class Americans voted to send Donald Trump back into the White House: He ran strongly with people without college degrees ,...
5 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 5, 20242 min read
Teaching fragility
Students stressed by the election results can skip classes tomorrow at their elite New York City private school, reports Christopher Maag...
2 comments
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 4, 20242 min read
More high schoolers earn more college credits -- but will they complete a degree?
Earning dual-enrollment credits may not help students complete a college degree.
3 comments
bottom of page