Our study uses a qualitative comparative analysis method in order to assess the impact of national accreditation schemes and also other relevant features of the higher education systems of 20 OECD countries on quality of the higher education sector measured by world rankings of national higher education systems. The analysis shows that higher…

This paper describes results of a 2023 survey of authors who applied to University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Open Article Fund, a fund that supports article processing charges (APCs). The survey sought feedback about the fund's impact, value, and award criteria as well as opinions on other open access topics. Results show that the fund has had a…

Diploma mills, also known as fake universities or degree mills, are organizations that offer unaccredited degrees for a fee. They exploit the value and prestige associated with a university degree, often without offering any meaningful education or qualifications. In recent years, the rise of online education and the increasing importance of a…

Despite decades of efforts to diversify the legal profession, White lawyers in the U.S. remain substantially overrepresented. As a necessary step for fostering equity in the workplace, law schools must work to reduce or eliminate the current racial disparities in their persistence and graduation rates. Therefore, this study explored the link…

We aim to investigate the factors influencing student choice in the private higher education (HE) sector in Kurdistan-Iraq. Hence, this research attempts to add to the literature in terms of understanding student university choice, in general, and address the gap in the literature in the context of Middle Eastern studies including Kurdistan, in…

The meritocratic ideal prescribes that universities should admit students based on academic ability and individual effort. Yet as competition for scarce slots has increased, markets for services to improve the odds of admission have expanded. We use the case of a popular online forum for elite Taiwanese students seeking graduate study in the…

I examine what the characteristics of competitive community colleges are and how the ranking systems identify the ideal qualities of community colleges through a comparison of community colleges to prestigious four-year institutions. I provide information regarding the institutional differences and the characteristics of top-ranked community…

ACTA's What Will They Learn?® (WWTL) project is designed to help students choose the best college or university for them. The printed report and its online companion WhatWillTheyLearn.com represent the only assessment of U.S. colleges and universities that focuses on what schools are actually teaching. This report assigns grades to over 1,130…

The role of staff involved with undergraduate admissions and recruitment has changed since the turn towards marketisation in higher education. This article focuses on the system in England following both a sharp rise in student fees and an associated tendency for the public university agenda and related social priorities, such as widening…

"What Will They Learn?" has been documenting for the last 13 years the crisis of weak core curriculum requirements. In addition to helping students choose the right college for the right reasons, American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) works with college and university leaders on campuses around the country to strengthen curricula…

There is a great deal of discussion in the academic literature around how the current conditions in higher education frame students as customers. Observers are of the view that rankings and marketing, an increased focus on student satisfaction, and particularly tuition fees, encourage an instrumental, passive attitude towards a university…

In this 12th edition of its flagship annual survey of college general education curricula, "What Will They Learn?," American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) shines a light on the wide disparity in academic standards at institutions of higher learning across the country. "What Will They Learn?" reviews the core curricula…

This paper explores how English universities operating in a "quasi-market" are managing the tension between two policy expectations: the first that they should encourage social mobility by widening the social base of their student population; the second that they should compete with other universities to attract students and thereby…

The relevant literature is rich enough about the differences between distance and face to face education. However, the number of studies examining these differences from the viewpoint of dual-mode alumni, those graduated from both distance and face to face education programmes is limited. In this study, opinions of 33 dual-mode alumni from Turkey…

Students suffer extreme hardship when their postsecondary education is interrupted or significantly devalued by school closure or misconduct. Private postsecondary education in particular can cost tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, fees, equipment, and required materials. These considerable expenses constitute only part of the economic harm…