The University Without Walls experiment on the University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus, began in 1971. The central animating concepts of the original experiment include the value of knowledge that is learned both within and without 'the walls' of the university. These various knowledge sources are integrated into the student's individualized…

During a student's first year, there is typically an adjustment period of living independently and feeling a sense of belonging that helps students overcome obstacles they may face in trying to navigate a new world. Students can find community in classrooms, joining a club or organization, forming an outside study group, and often through Living…

This article examines the transformative educational practices and democratic ethos of Black Mountain College, an experimental institution ahead of its time. Drawing on insights from scholars like Rhea Estelle Lathan and Susan Kates, Muir positions Black Mountain as a site of community literacies, by prioritizing democratic engagement, diversity,…

Policy discourses about the third mission of universities in the knowledge economy have placed the question regarding the relation between university and society again high on the agenda. The aim of this article is to reconsider the university's third mission, in the widest sense of its relations with society, and to do so through the lens of the…

Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, dozens of experimental colleges were founded across the United States. While these institutions are usually remembered as either a fringe movement of the 1960s or a niche for nonconformist students, this essay argues that their genesis was markedly mainstream. Drawing from popular trends, higher education…

This report describes my field visits to Berea and Deep Springs Colleges in the U.S.A. and explores their forms of ownership/control, governance, financing and organisational structure. Berea and Deep Springs are small, liberal arts colleges, distinctive in American higher education, in which students actively participate in a spirit of democracy.…

The need for increased creativity in education is currently being proposed in much innovative thinking on higher education as universities are forced to recreate themselves. There are four conditions facing higher education worldwide: alignment, motivation, connection, and direction. Higher education is characterized by a hierarchy of subjects and…

The 2013 study, "The Effectiveness of Secondary Math Teachers from Teach for America and the Teaching Fellows Programs," examined whether students taught by teachers in the "Teach for America" ("TFA") and "The New Teacher Project Teaching Fellows" ("Teaching Fellows") programs had greater…

Despite social and educational change and greatly reduced visibility, the cluster college concept remains in use in many institutions, in both the federated colleges and subcollege cluster models, and in some cases substantially changed in form. (MSE)

The Learning Exchange Network is explored to show how it (1) takes advantage of the strong points of the previous models for self-directed learners; (2) counters the liabilities of the previous models; (3) serves the smaller populations of semirural areas; and (4) includes an implementation plan. The practicality of the network is discussed. (CT)

Argues that equal educational opportunity has never been realized nationally or internationally. Suggests that the degree of selection is higher in Germany and other German-speaking countries than elsewhere. Concludes that exceptional curricular and structural factors in Bielefeld's experimental Oberstufen-Kolleg helped achieve equal educational…

A president, reflecting the initial evaluations that led to the accreditation of many nontraditional institutions, finds the accreditation experience has greatly affected these colleges and their programs. It has also had a positive impact on the accrediting agencies and higher education generally. (Author/LBH)

In 14 articles a record, a tribute and an analysis of struggles of humanistic educators who worked toward new forms of higher education (1966-1980) and four models are presented. Recommendations for more enlightened humanistic endeavors are discussed with a look toward the future of education. (RC)

The plan for the University of Mid-America to establish the autonomous, fully accredited American Open University (AOU) is presented. AOU, a university for working adults who wish to study part-time, will utilize modern communications technologies and methods of distance education. The American Open University will be a nationwide system that will…

The academic and emotional needs of students who enter college early are discussed, based on studies done of students at Simon's Rock College. The concept of early college admission is defended on the grounds that some students are emotionally and academically ready for college after only two years of high school. (JSR)