The 108-foot wave

Perhaps you’ve seen the story of what might be the largest wave ever surfed (the news media are calling it the largest wave ever, but of course that’s not true.) It got me thinking about all the waves we’re dealing with in higher education: Shrinking enrollments, structural budget deficits at even some of the highly-resourced […]

Confused about discount rates? Me too.

Nothing is so discussed–and perhaps so misunderstood–as college discount rates. And my opinion about the meaning of discount rates is changing, to boot. You probably know that discount rates are calculated by dividing unfunded institutional aid by gross tuition revenue. So if you charge $100M in gross tuition and offer $40M in aid, your discount […]

The Myth of Selectivity

Much of the hype in media and watercooler talk centers on institutional prestige, often using the selectivity of university in first-year admission as a proxy. Should you try to make your institution more selective to increase its prestige? If you think the answer is “yes” you might want to reconsider. From 2001 to 2023, first-year […]