At the start of the third decade of the 21st century, the United States is entering a period of unprecedented demographic shifts affecting higher education. Not only are many states already seeing fewer high-school graduates, with more facing this trend as the decade progresses, but in all but a few regions overall population growth will level and…

Across American higher education, institutional consolidations are on the rise. In particular, multiple state systems have proposed or completed mergers of regional universities and/or community colleges with the stated goal of increasing efficiency. Despite the high-profile nature of some recent successful and failed consolidations, there is…

Alumni boards have historically been a leading source for alumni to receive tremendous personal and professional satisfaction by giving of themselves to their alma mater and to fellow alumni. These boards have roles and responsibilities including social events, networking, and raising funds for the college or university. Many alumni boards provide…

With the pool of high school graduates decreasing, national and global competition increasing, and the need to invest in new technologies and approaches growing, many universities and small colleges alike are struggling--not just to thrive, but to survive. In this challenging environment, mergers and consolidations are often viewed as options of…

In "The College Stress Test," Robert Zemsky, Susan Shaman, and Susan Campbell Baldridge present readers with a full, frank, and informed discussion about college and university closures. Drawing on the massive institutional data set available from IPEDS (the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), they build a stress test for…

The New England Board of Higher Education "NEBHE" has been deeply interested in how New England higher education institutions can collaborate with one another and with other leaders to confront threats to their economic sustainability. These threats stem partly from shifts in academic content and delivery, student demography and…

While it is clear that not all mergers and consolidations are a success story, and some collapse under backlash from students, faculty, and other community members, the University System of Georgia (USG) has completed an astounding number of successful mergers between its institutions. This case study provides an overview of the timeline of the…

Political pressure to reduce the number of higher education institutions in Wales has been sustained for over a decade by three successive ministers for education, two of whom, Jane Davidson and the current incumbent, Leighton Andrews, have left the Welsh sector in no doubt about the strength of their personal commitment to the policy of…

This article focuses on five women's experiences "making it" as rhetoricians with children. Expanding the definition of success Michelle Ballif, Diane Davis and Roxanne Mountford set forth in "Women's Ways of Making It in Rhetoric and Composition," the article offers suggestions for moving toward more family-friendly academic structures, not least…

Over the last decade, HEIs (higher education institutions) around the world have undergone transformation for a number of reasons, including mergers and acquisitions. The reasons for this vary from remaining competitive in an ever-increasingly competitive academic environment to being forced to do so. With deeply ingrained traditions, long tenures…

Developmental education courses have become a standard in community colleges in the United States. An overwhelming majority of these public two-year schools offer developmental courses to a wide array of students. At the same time, developmental programs are under a constant barrage of attacks from a variety of stakeholder organizations that view…

This study explores two specific cases of institutional mergers in the field of higher education. The two cases took place in China in the 1990s. One of the cases might be labeled a vertical merger and the other a horizontal merger. The former simply implies a merger between higher education institutions with equal status and the same level of…

Discusses why Fordham University's absorption of Marymount College could offer a model for other institutions. (EV)

Describes how, after a decade of recession and years of declining college enrollments, Japan--the country with the world's third-largest economy--is asking its universities to merge. (EV)

Discusses the for-profit education sector's rush to consolidate. Large, publicly traded schools are looking to expand their businesses, while smaller schools are finding it hard to maintain growth or expand on their own. (EV)