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Welcome to The EDU Ledger! We’ve moved from Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.

Section: Blogs/Opinion

Keep the Rules

For-profit colleges have their place in higher education, but too many operators have proved to be incredibly bad actors over the years, making reasonable rules meant to protect students the smart play. During the Obama presidency, the Department of Education put in place regulations that its new secretary, Betsy DeVos, has stalled and appears to […]

September 26, 2017

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Standardize Online Education?

This past week this article, Standardization in Online Education, came by my social media feed. It was particularly interesting to me because we are knee deep in discussing the very issues that are discussed in this article. I have very mixed feelings about standardization of online education. I want course sites to adhere to accessibility […]

September 22, 2017

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More Military Spending or Free College?

One of the most controversial proposals put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential campaign was a pledge to make tuition free at public colleges and universities. Critics from both parties howled that the pie-in-the-sky idea would bankrupt the country. Where, after all, would the money come from? Those concerns were brushed aside […]

September 21, 2017

Digital Professor Speaks

University and college students will soon be back in their classrooms. However, more and more students now study online, rather than in a classroom. This is both positive and worrisome. I know, as earlier this summer I taught my first online university course. Online education is a transformative disruption in teaching and learning. Freed from […]

September 19, 2017

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Job Hunting

Military spouses have enough trouble finding employment. When it’s time for their servicemember to transition out, it can be daunting. The fear of the civilian sector can be intimidating. What servicemembers and their families need to remember is how much transitioning military have to offer. Recruiting veteran talent is becoming increasingly more competitive. Businesses that […]

September 15, 2017

We Can Do More

Upon traversing the U.S. 30 bridge from Illinois into Clinton, Iowa, motorists encounter a small but bright sign designating the city as a Home Base Iowa community. I was such a motorist over Labor Day weekend, and though I crossed that bridge countless times over almost two decades, this was the first I noticed the […]

September 14, 2017

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Changing Mindsets

Much of the economic news today features the phrase “shortage of skilled workers.” It’s a familiar problem and traditional higher education, in its current state, isn’t designed to make the course correction needed. Here are two of the biggest shifts in practice and mindset that can help address problems in today’s traditional degree programs. Read […]

September 12, 2017

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Are We Recreating Segregated Education Online?

Online courses helped kick off a movement promising that your zipcode no longer had to determine the quality of education you received. People in rural Bhutan could take a computer science class from Harvard. Students at a community college could supplement their math class with lectures from MIT. A single mom in middle America could […]

September 8, 2017

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Support students, education, not military contractors

U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan is not going away any time soon, as President Donald Trump ordered an increase in troops during his Aug. 21 speech at the Fort Myer military base in Arlington, Virginia. America invaded Afghanistan Oct. 7, 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks by the Taliban and al-Qaida. The war has cost […]

September 7, 2017

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G.I. Bill Offers Opportunities

Today’s veterans not only deserve but need the expanded GI education benefits in the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 that the president signed into law Aug. 16. This new law removes the end date for veterans to use the educational benefits, expands eligibility and boosts aid. These benefits meet the needs […]

September 5, 2017

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Join a MOOC

What do 35 million people around the world have in common? One answer is that they are enrolled in MOOCs — massive open online courses. If this is a new term for you, don’t feel surprised. MOOCs only burst on the educational scene five years ago. Greeted by both fanfare and skepticism, the early visionaries […]

August 31, 2017

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We Can Do More

Former President Barack Obama once noted that the U.S. has the finest fighting force in the history of the world. Its average age of enlistment is under 21, and the average length of enlistment is 15 years. However, in startling contrast, the length of time the military prepares enlisted service members to reenter civilian life […]

August 29, 2017

Learn a Language Online

My wife is one of those people who can chat away in several different languages. I can do that, too. It sounds fine to me. But no one knows what the heck I’m saying. They do with her. So when we go to Italy, Mary often strikes up conversations with people and has a great […]

August 25, 2017

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Is Online Learning the Future?

In the past, if you wanted to get a qualification, or even simply learn something new, you would sign up for a course at a bricks-and-mortar institution, pay any relevant fees, and then physically attend class. That was until the online learning revolution started. Last year, the e-learning market was worth an enormous $166.5 billion. […]

August 24, 2017

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Recalling a Legacy

Last summer, the Harry Colmery Plaza was dedicated in downtown Topeka exactly 72 years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 — legislation more commonly known as the GI Bill. After serving in World War I, Colmery became a tireless advocate for veterans, and his involvement with the American Legion […]

August 22, 2017

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Invest in Education

I recently traveled from Greensboro to Asheville for a debate on education between a Democratic senator and a Republican Party chairman. The Republican stance was we should not invest more money in public education. The debate gave me a lot to think about. Last week I was in Wilmington to take my daughter on a […]

August 18, 2017

PAServes: One Stop for Help

I can remember the hope and optimism I felt during my eight-hour Transition Assistance Program course at the Defense Language Institute after leaving service in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. I had just graduated from the Modern Standard Arabic course, and I was excited about all of the opportunities that surely were awaiting me in […]

August 17, 2017

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Transgender Ban — A Veteran’s Perspective

On Wednesday July 26, 2017 at 8:55 a.m., President Trump sent shock waves across the nation when he tweeted, “The United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the […]

August 15, 2017