Outside the Beltway

Texas Governor Rick Perry got lousy grades as an undergrad at Texas A&M. Does it matter?

Chris Christie and Rahm Emanuel are being criticized for the brusque manner they handled questions about their children’s education.

One of the things you learn as a college president is that if an undergraduate is wearing a tie and jacket on Thursday afternoon at three o’clock, there are two possibilities. One is that they’re looking for a job and have an interview; the other is that they are an a**hole.

Howard Wiarda’s book on the National War College is based on his experiences from 1991 to 1996.

It’s the marketing of college as a panacea that’s a scam, not college itself.

The Obama Justice Department is siding against historians trying to protect the confidentiality of their sources.

More people are chasing careers in film than there are careers in film. And not just in front of the camera.

A new study indicates that college degrees lead to higher wages even in fields that do not require a degree.

The venerable Brooks Brothers is getting into the college apparel business, selling sweaters and polos for Boston College; the U.S. Naval Academy, Auburn, Cornell, Harvard, New York, Ohio State, Princeton, Stanford, and Vanderbilt Universities and the Universities of Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame and Virginia.

A distinguished linguist is quite impressed with Sarah Palin’s facility with the written word.

A new study shows that college students who take late classes drink more alcohol.

Do ideologically radical professors impose their biases on their students?

Texas A&M professor finds serious flaws in college faculty productivity study.

Is the college curriculum too heavy in humanities and social sciences and too light on science and mathematics?

A new study finds that college tuition costs could be cut in half if lazy professors got off their butts.

One law school grad seems to think the solution to her employment problems is to sue her law school.

David Blight recounts the story of the first Memorial Day.

A profile of George Mason economist and blogger Tyler Cowen offers this amusing description: “Cowen, 49, has round features, a hesitant posture, and an unconcerned haircut.”

Academic publishers want to end the Fair Use of scholarly journal articles in the classroom.

The rebel and onion armies showed grose negligence by having many of their battles right inside national parks, like Gettysburg.

Most good government jobs require a college degree–but they don’t care much whether it’s a real one.

While elite schools confer many advantages on their graduates, they also wall them off from normal people and create an entitled, out-of-touch elite.

America’s war colleges have some problems but we can’t close them.

An increasing number of bright observers are questioning the notion that everyone needs to go to college.

Should kids be required to buy their lunch at school rather than bring whatever their parents might pack for them to eat?

A photo suggesting oral sex on the cover of a student newspaper has generated controversy.

Another survey shows that Americans don’t know much about their own history, but does it really matter?

While complaints that there’s too much information for intellectuals to sort through, much less read, are constant, they’re not new. Harvard historian Ann Blair argues in her new book Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information Before the Modern Age that this stress goes back at least to Seneca’s time.

This video “Teachers Unions Explained” isn’t particularly fair but it’s nonetheless amusing.

79% do not think Ivy League students make better workers. 18% are undecided.

Would you like President Obama to speak at your graduation? You’re the only one.

George Mason University law students are petitioning against the requirement to pay $136 to rent cap and gown regalia in order to attend their graduation ceremony.

Northwestern’s Human Sexuality course includes a naked woman being brought to orgasm with a dildo.

Should public schoolteachers make more money than the people paying their salaries?

In the Middle East, protesters are marching for democracy. In the Midwest, they’re protesting against it.

Neither side is covering themselves in glory in the battle over the Badger State budget.

For many Ph.Ds, the Ed.D. represents the ticket to the administrative high life, the white flag to academic scholarship, and the tramp stamp of the compromising careerist.

President Obama is proposing to cut billions of dollars from the Pell Grant program, making it harder for kids from poor families to attend college.