Factors related to university presidents' pay: An examination of private colleges and universities

In this research, we used institutionalcharacteristics and market-related factors to predictuniversity president's pay, benefits, and totalcompensation at 190 private colleges and universities. Results showed that university CEOs' pay was relatedto the expenditures, type of institution, theexistence of professional schools, and academicreputation ranking, while their benefits package wasrelated to the expenditure, type of institution,reputation ranking, and undergraduate student'stuition. CEOs' total compensation (pay and benefitscombined) was related to the expenditures, type ofinstitution, reputation ranking, and tuition. Resultsof this study support the notion that agency theorycan be used to provide a theoretical framework topredict university CEOs' pay, benefits, and totalcompensation.     

The effect of effort grading on learning

In the fall of 2004, Benedict College – a Historically Black College in Columbia, SC – began enforcing a new grading policy called Success Equals Effort (SE²). Under this policy, students taking freshman and sophomore level courses were assigned grades that explicitly rewarded not only content learning (“knowledge” grade) but also measures of effort (“effort” grade). This paper examines the effects of effort grading using two stage least squares and fixed effect estimates. I find evidence of a strong positive correlation between “effort” grades and “knowledge” grades. Under some restrictions this relationship can be interpreted as “effort” producing “knowledge”.     

Keeping up with the Joneses: Institutional changes following the adoption of a merit aid policy

The increasing use by private colleges and universities of financial aid based on “merit”, as opposed to based solely on financial need has caused many to raise concerns that this type of aid will go mainly to higher income students crowding out aid to lower income students. However, some analysts suggest that by attracting more “almost full-paying” students through the use of merit aid, institutions will have more financial resources that they can use to increase their financial aid to low-income students and thus their enrollment. Results using data from the College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges and other secondary data sources suggest that the increased use of merit aid is associated with a decrease in enrollment of low-income and minority students, particularly at more selective institutions. Middle and bottom tier colleges may be offsetting costs with tuition increases, as the introduction of merit aid is accompanied by an increase in net costs.     

What determines the return to education: An extra year or a hurdle cleared?

The 1973 Raising of the School Leaving Age from 15 to 16 has been used to identify returns to years’ schooling. However, because the first set of “high stakes” exams are taken in the UK at age 16, the reform affected the proportion with qualifications, as well as schooling length. In order to shed light on whether the returns reflect the extra length of schooling or the increase in qualifications, we exploit another institutional rule – the Easter Leaving Rule – which we argue only affected the probability of obtaining qualifications (and not the length of schooling). We find sizeable returns to academic qualifications – increasing the probability of employment by 40% points – and our results suggest that qualifications drive most of the returns to education.     

Why preferences in college admissions may yield a more-able student body

Critics of affirmative action policies contend that the elimination of racial preferences in college admissions would lead to a “more-able” student body. We develop a simple model comprised of three classes of college admissions—merit, race and legacy—to show that it is possible that a change in admissions policy that reduces racial preferences leads to a “less-able” student body. The change in admissions policy may serve only to ensure that more admissions are available for “sale” to wealthy alumni through legacy preferences. In other words, when there are multi-dimensional preferences, reducing or eliminating one dimension of preferences may lead to the unforeseen consequence of producing a “less able” student body.     

Effects of school choice on the margin: The cream is already skimmed

Critics of school choice argue that cream-skimming will worsen outcomes for those left behind in public schools. Since “high ability” families may have already sorted themselves out of the schools in question, this paper will examine whether existing within-school heterogeneity leaves any scope for cream-skimming to operate. It asks, “given the current level of within-school heterogeneity, how strong would peer effects have to be to significantly worsen outcomes for those left behind?” In order for cream-skimming to lower math test scores by one half-year's progress, the peer effect would have to be as strong as increasing class sizes by 8–20 students, or cutting per-student funding by $400–2000. These results indicate that current levels of within-school heterogeneity are so low that peer effects would have to be unrealistically strong to give cream-skimming any bite.     

Faculty: Thy administrator's keeper? Some evidence

Colleges and universities face a principal-agent problem. There are information asymmetries over the actions chosen by administrators. Because non-profit constraints limit the financial stake of trustees there may be insufficient monitoring of administrators and, consequentially, shirking. It is conceivable that faculty will serve as “delegated monitors” given the proper incentives. Faculty monitoring will most likely benefit a university when: (1) monitoring costs are low and (2) administrators cannot impose significant punishment costs on faculty. The practices of organized faculty participation in governance and tenure naturally achieve such ends. Empirical evidence from a sample of colleges and universities in the United States supports the hypothesis that features of a faculty's employment have significant effects on a university's financial performance.     

University rankings in action? The importance of rankings and an excellence competition for university choice of high-ability students

This paper analyzes how high-ability students respond to different indicators of university quality when applying for a university. Are prospective students influenced by quality indicators of a university ranking or by an excellence status awarded within a nationwide competition? And if so, are some quality dimensions, e.g. research reputation, mentoring, faculty infrastructure, students’ satisfaction or the excellence status, more important than others? In order to address these questions, I estimate a random utility model using administrative application data of all German medical schools. As identification relies on the variation in quality indicators over time, I can disentangle the response to changing quality indicators from the common knowledge regarding university attractiveness. Results show that the ranking provides more relevant information in the quality dimensions mentoring, faculty infrastructure and the overall students’ satisfaction than with respect to research.     

Characteristics and careers of Canadian university presidents

This statistical study of Canadian university presidents was prompted by the discovery that there is no systematic demographic information available on university administrators in Canada. The vitae of 98 current Canadian university presidents and their immediate predecessors were collected and statistics such as age and length of tenure were compared with those of American counterparts. The Canadian university presidents assumed office at about 49 years of age and held office for about eight years. They tend to be born in geographical proximity to the institution they will head and to circle it geographically during their careers. A former association with the University of Toronto, either as a student or teacher, was common. There appears to be a career ladder which includes a decanal and/or vice-presidential position, particularly in central Canada; few presidents move to a second presidency, although several move into what might be termed an academic superstructure. Few Canadian presidents majored in the field of Education as a student or teacher and there is generally poor representation from the Arts as compared to the U.S.; on the other hand, the hard sciences are well represented. The implications of these tendencies are discussed.     

Participation in Canadian Universities: The gender imbalance (1977–2005)

Females are more likely to attend Canadian universities and their participation rate has been increasing faster than that of males, generating a 15 percentage point gap by 2005. We investigate the determinants of attending university and explore the reasons for the increasing gender gap. As in the US literature, we find that conventional decompositions, averaging over the whole sample, attribute most of the gender gap to differences in variables, notably the University Premium. The average sample approach in these decompositions abstracts from the evolution over time of the participation rates by gender and from important detail at specific points in time, features that we try to overcome. We find that the rising level of the university participation rate for both women and men can be explained by changing societal norms, the dynamic influence of parental education, the University Premium, tuition fees and real income. The 2005 gap between the female and male participation rates can be accounted mostly (9 percentage points) by the gender differences in the University Premium and, to a lesser extent (6 percentage points), by differences in the coefficients in the female and male participation equations.     

From Identity to Facility—The New Buildings for the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen

This analysis seeks to unite both an architectural and an educational perspective on the transformation of the university into a postmodern institution. Our point of departure is an analysis of the new buildings for the Faculty of Humanities University of Copenhagen which are located on the island area of Amager, to the south of Copenhagen's centre. To put the transformation into perspective we will also consider the respective older buildings that house the universities of Copenhagen and Oslo. The analysis will illustrate how the university as an institution has changed in terms of characteristics, position in society and its understanding of itself. Previously, the university was a clearly defined institution, which had both the process of Bildung (liberal education) and the production of objective knowledge as its goal. Today's university has become a institution, which seeks to develop competence rather than Bildung and to facilitate knowledge in the Network Society. These changes can be explicated by the French philosopher Lyotard's analysis of the position of knowledge within the postmodern sphere.     

East African higher education from the community standpoint

The concept of community education is considered in relation to higher education in East Africa. The case of the University of Dar es Salaam is taken as an example to show how the concept has been adapted to meet the needs of a university in a developing society. Orientations towards the community in terms of teaching, research and other activities are described. Problems of access, admission, control and participation are considered in the context of the changed conditions within which the university must operate. The suggestion is made that experience shows that an institution can re-order itself in such a way as to contribute more effectively to the national community it serves.An earlier version of this article was prepared for a Seminar on Education and the Community in Africa held at the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh 18–20 June 1976.     

Higher education expansion and low-income students in Taiwan

In this paper, we report on a study of 1510 undergraduates from five national universities in Taiwan, and we show that compared to “non-prestigious” universities, a larger proportion of students at prestigious universities come from middle and high socioeconomic classes and a smaller proportion experience financial insecurity These results are timely in the wake of Taiwan's expansion in the number of universities and of university students. At non-prestigious universities, a higher percentage of students experience economic constraints, spend several hours per week engaged in paid employment during their university studies, and have parents who did not go to college. These different characteristics of the student bodies at elite and non-elite institutions of higher education may create quite different university contexts, which may in turn affect students’ college experiences, professional choices, and opportunities in the future.     

Modeling Change and Variation in U.S. News & World Report College Rankings: What would it really take to be in the Top 20?

University administrators may invest significant time and resources with the goal of improving their U.S. News & World Report ranking, but the real impact of these investments is not well known since, as other universities make similar changes, rankings become a moving target. This research removes the mystique of the U.S. News ranking process by producing a ranking model that faithfully recreates U.S. News outcomes and quantifies the inherent “noise” in the rankings for all nationally ranked universities. The model developed can be a valuable tool to institutional researchers and university leaders by providing detailed insight into the U.S. News ranking process. It allows the impact of changes to U.S. News subfactors to be studied when variation between universities and within subfactors is present. Numerous simulations were run using this model to understand the effect of each subfactor individually and to determine the amount of change that would be required for a university to improve its rank or move into the top 20. Results show that for a university ranked in the mid-30 s it would take a significant amount of additional resources, directed in a very focused way, to become a top-ranked national university, and that rank changes of up to ± 4 points should be considered “noise”. These results can serve as a basis for frank discussions within a university about the likelihood of significant changes in rank and provide valuable insight when formulating strategic goals.     

An alternative assessment to higher education outcomes: Differentiating by institutional type

In this paper we propose higher education, and community colleges in particular, be evaluated not solely on their functional merits, but on their value in promoting, what Dewey (1966) called an active citizenry. Rather than considering only how well higher education meets the needs of democratic capitalism, we investigate alternative methods of assessing the contribution of higher education to the development of active citizens. In this exploration we consider how higher education preparation differs based on an individual's gender, race, class, academic program and the postsecondary institution attended. We explore alternative concepts of assessment in higher education not as proof we have discovered the method for assessing outcomes of higher education, but, rather, as an alternative approach to understanding the potential outcomes of higher education at its different institutional levels. Of special significance for our study is the finding that although students who attend a community college, for example, may not be as successful economically as university students, attendance at a community college is associated with an increased sense of self-empowerment. When we consider community colleges have a higher proportion of students who are typically marginalized by postsecondary institutions, the community college does appear to offer opportunities for students that are not measured only in economic terms.     

英国院校研究发展与演变的逻辑:从“平等”到“质量”

与美国相比,院校研究在英国的发展是迟缓的。从历史渊源来看,英国早期的"院校研究"活动包括"校史研究"和"政府报告"。但其"真正意义上"的院校研究起源于英国政府决定推行高等教育大众化的政策过程(1963—1987)。在此期间,院校研究主要是促进"教育平等"的政策研究和大学内部教学法改进研究。20世纪80年代后期,英国政府与大学之间的关系发生了重大变化,"质量评估运动"和"问责"促成了院校研究在英国高校内部地位的确立。院校研究的旨趣也从关注"平等"转向"质量"。院校研究在英国发展的历程和经验,对于其他欧洲国家甚至对中国院校研究的推进,都具有启发和借鉴意义。     

Civil society and control of corruption: Assessing governance of Romanian public universities

Romania is perceived as the most corrupt EU member state according to Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. In 2008–2009, a grassroots coalition of civil society organizations and education stakeholders created the Coalition for Clean Universities which organized the first assessment of integrity of the Romanian higher education system, The Coalition evaluated 42 state universities on the basis of an original methodology, in terms of Administrative Integrity, Academic Integrity, Democratic Governance, Academic Governance and Sound Finance for a time internal of one academic year. The evaluation found systemic problems in the organization and functioning of university life, and attributed them to the failure to build accountability systems at university level following decentralization of higher education after 1989. The results, in the form of a ranking of universities, were made public and hotly debated, creating a major incentive for universities to compete for a better public image, and therefore for reform of their practices.     

Experimenting in distance education: The African virtual university (AVU) and the paradox of the World Bank in Kenya—A rejoinder

This rejoinder is in response to criticism against the African Virtual University (AVU), an internet-based education modality, by Amutabi and Oketch [2003. Experimenting in distance education: the African Virtual University (AVU) and the Paradox of World Bank in Kenya. International Journal of Educational Development 23, 57–73]. By closely focusing on AVU “foreignness”, its equity effects, as well as questions about its sustainability, this riposte argues that the origins, developments and modus operandi of the new virtual educational system mirrors that of the state universities in Kenya. The paper concludes by arguing in favor of the theory of isomorphism as a more comprehensive analytical framework for assessing complexities of the development and role of internet-based education in developing countries.     

德国CHE大学排名的特点及对我国的启示

德国大学排名起步较晚,1998年才发布第一个大学排名,但德国CHE大学排名却由于其独特的方法而为国际同行所称道.CHE是由德国大学校长会议发起成立的非官方机构,主要负责德国大学的排名工作,其目的是为了促进大学的改革与发展.CHE大学排名在价值取向、指标选择、数据来源、服务对象的确定等几个方面有着自身的独特性,其做法对我国大学的排名活动有一定的启示.     

Field of study choice by community college students in Canada

Community college education is a key component of Canadian postsecondary education, with 21% of the population aged 25–64 having college credentials. In order to understand educational decisions at this level, we estimate a model of choice of field of study and analyze, among other things, the effect of earnings on this choice. In this way, we exploit two cross-sections (and cohorts) of young workers who completed community college (Cegeps in Quebec) in 1990 and 1995 from the Canadian National Graduate Survey. Structural estimates indicate that the probability of selecting a specific community college field of study depends significantly upon anticipated earnings in this field relative to other fields. Our results also show that women put less weight on earnings compared to men when choosing a field of study, and that students who were employed prior to starting community college are more sensitive to earnings variations across fields of study than students with no prior work experience.