Education Economics Commons^™

An Editorial: If I Should Fall, Patrick Otto, David Weir

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Abstract

The future of Christian higher education will be determined by whether today’s leaders can identify and train successors who are called to the mission and vision of each institution. The task of transitioning to a new generation of leaders has become more complicated as research shows that the church in America is in decline. The increased use of adjuncts adds to the dilemma because it takes time and a single-minded focus to prepare high-level leaders.

We are at a critical time finding the right people to replace the Baby Boomer generation, which has led well past retirement age. As …

The Hypocrisy Of The Wizards—A Proposal To Correct Incentives In Higher Education Loan Financing, Caden Benedict

School of Public Policy Capstones

This paper explores the origins of the student loan debt crisis and proposes tying university incentives to graduates' repayment plans and disclosing median earnings for degrees before students apply. Specifically, while there are numerous factors explaining why the price of education has increased dramatically since the 1970s, this paper proposes solutions that will specifically target university moral hazards by requiring universities fund: (1) the current subsidies to federal student loan repayments under income-driven plans as the House of Representatives intended before the Senate removed "risk-sharing," and (2) bankruptcy law discharge amounts. Moreover, requiring universities to disclose the median earnings of …

Performance-Based Funding’S Influence On Higher Education Through The Eyes Of Department Chairs, Jonathan W. Lackland

Theses and Dissertations

Performance-based funding (PBF) has become a widely adopted policy in higher education, linking state appropriations to measurable outcomes such as graduation rates, degree completions, and workforce alignment. While PBF aims to enhance institutional accountability and efficiency, its implementation has raised significant concerns about equity and political influence. This dissertation examines the political equity and implications of PBF policies through a mixed-methods approach, including surveys, interviews with department chairs, and critical discourse analysis of state statutes and legislative debates. The findings reveal that PBF often exacerbates inequities, particularly for non-flagship universities serving diverse and under-resourced student populations. Department chairs expressed concerns …

Instruction Vs. Infrastructure: Asymmetric Returns In U.S. Higher Education, Shaibu Yahaya

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Despite massive increases in funding, U.S. higher education degree output has stagnated—a paradox often attributed to external cost pressures like Baumol’s cost disease. This paper tests an alternative hypothesis: that internal resource misallocation, specifically the accumulation of noninstructional liabilities, actively crowds out educational productivity. Using a panel of 26,603 institution-year observations, I estimate the university production function via a fixed-effects Poisson specification, adjusting all financial inputs using the Higher Education Price Index. The results expose a stark asymmetry in productive returns: a 10% increase in instructional spending drives a 1.76% increase in degree production (β = 0.176). In contrast, the …

The Teacher Shortage Crisis: How Workplace Relationships Influence Retention, Attrition, And The Education Labor Market, Jeremy Brooks

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study took a closer look at how high school teachers perceive the ongoing teacher shortage, with particular attention to how workplace conditions and the broader school climate impact whether they choose to stay in the profession. Special focus was given to teachers in their first five years, a group especially vulnerable to early attrition. As the conversation around teacher turnover grows louder, this research seeks to better understand what’s driving teachers’ decisions from their own perspectives, not just policy data or administrative assumptions.

The study used a basic qualitative research design, relying on one-on-one, in-depth interviews to gather insights …

Good Trouble For Good Debt? A Comparative Analysis Of Financial Factors And Racial Differences In U.S. Student Loan Debt Burdens, Carlton R. Smith, Kim E. Bullington, Matthew J. Smith

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

This study examines the relationship surrounding undergraduate student loan debt burdens and income levels post-graduation, focusing particularly on the financial impacts of both on Black student borrowers. Using two datasets from the National Center for Education Statistics, our quantitative analysis highlights that while student loan debt in and of itself is not problematic in theory, when combined with other factors and barriers, debt becomes an additional stressor potentially impeding student success during and after college. We offer short-, intermediate-, and long-term implications, while also highlighting examples of targeted intervention programs tailored to specifically benefit Black student borrowers.

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

The Evolution Of Schooling: From Industrial Obedience To Techno-Autonomy, Seb Taylor, Ron Roberts Ii

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

This paper examines the enduring architecture of the American education system as a mechanism designed for compliance, not creativity. Rooted in 19th-century industrial logic, the structure of schooling, its physical design, time constraints, and assessment methods, has remained largely static despite seismic cultural and technological shifts. Through historical analysis and contemporary critique, this work interrogates the persistence of standardized methods, institutional prestige, and top-down instruction as barriers to meaningful learning and value creation. Drawing from interdisciplinary research and live case studies, including Alpha School’s AI-powered, mastery-based model, the paper advances the concept of techno-education: a student-centered paradigm informed by feedback …

Investigating The State Of Graduate Education In The Philippines: Challenges, Opportunities, And Policy Implications, Anne K. Candelaria, Eric Arthur N. Dio, Jovelyn G. Delosa

Political Science Department Faculty Publications

This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the graduate education sector, revealing that it is highly privatized, NCR-centric, and dominated by enrollment in Education and Business/Administration fields. The analysis confirms that the primary driver for this high demand, particularly in teacher education (which accounts for over half of all enrollment), is the use of graduate degrees as a key requirement for career advancement and promotion within agencies like the Department of Education (DepEd). This policy-driven demand, however, is linked to systemic issues, including the proliferation of “diploma mills” that undermine quality, extremely low on-time completion rates (averaging 18.77% for Master’s …

A Qualitative Study Of Iranian Efl Teachers’ Perceptions Of A Digital Diversified Education, Seyed Mohammad Reza Marvasti Zadeh, Azizollah Dabaghi Varnosfadrani Advarnosfadrani, Mohammad Amiryousefi

The Qualitative Report

Because Iran is a country of learners of diverse languages, socio-economic classes, genders, and ages, digital diversified education seems appropriate to address needs in English language education. However, there is a notable gap in research on teachers’ perceptions about this type of education. To fill this gap, this study aimed to investigate the perspectives of Iranian teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) regarding a diverse digital education. Data were collected via an open-ended survey with 30 EFL teachers, both male and female, who were selected through convenience sampling. Analysis revealed several key themes, including the utilization of diverse …

Student Loan Policies And Payments During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Closing The Gap Or Widening Inequalities?, Jason Jabbari, Takeshi Terada, Haotian Zheng, Stephen Roll

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Student debt was specifically addressed in the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic through forbearance polices. However, not all individuals were eligible for forbearance, and it is possible that forbearance would leave some feeling further behind. Yet, little is known about student loan debt over the course of the pandemic, especially in relationship to forbearance policies, loan payments, and household financial stability. Leveraging a representative longitudinal survey of households during the pandemic, we use descriptive regression techniques to explore changes in loan balances throughout the pandemic, as well as the relationships among student loan policies, payments, and measures of …

Do Students' Academic Capital, Knowledge And Attitudes Towards Mandatory Fees, And University Knowledge Predict Their Payment Methods?, Emeka Ikegwuonu, Lydia Ross

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Mandatory fees in higher education have increased substantially in recent years. These increases have changed the net cost of attendance for students from semester to semester. Coupled with these changes, we are witnessing an increase in students from diverse lived experiences who are traditionally unaware of costs associated with their attendance. As fees typically support services and programs that promote student retention and matriculation, students should be aware of these services and programs. Because these students have varied perceptions of costs and understandings of resources and systems in higher education, it may shape their payment methods. Our findings suggest that …

On The Lower Levels Of The Ivory Tower: What Color Collars Do Adjunct Faculty Wear?, Frederick Tucker

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Institutional reliance on tenure-line faculty reached a historic low after the Great Recession in 2009, remaining at approximately a third of all faculty through 2022. Postsecondary institutions have steadily increased their reliance on full-time adjunct faculty over the last two decades. Part-time adjuncts, meanwhile, were hired in great numbers before and during the Great Recession, as student enrollment increased, but have steadily declined since 2012, as college enrollment waned. Almost all evidence suggests that tenure expansion would benefit both the recipients of tenure and their students, but would come at a cost. There are few studies, however, that distinguish between …

The Perspective Of An Alumnus, Rifah Tasnim

Early College Folio

No abstract provided.

Editor’S Note, Amanda Landi

Early College Folio

No abstract provided.

Contributors

Early College Folio

Contributors, Early College Folio, Volume 3, Issue 1 (2024).

The Race For Increasing College Costs, Mark Jayson Farol

Undergraduate Economics Working Paper Series

As higher education continues to shift to be more progressive, providing access to more students of different backgrounds, it currently is facing an obstacle. The escalating cost of tuition is growing to be a significant concern for access to higher education. The government has prioritized increasing federal financial aid to improve accessibility. However, this intervention may paradoxically worsen the rise of the cost of college, as suggested by William Bennett's famous hypothesis. As the higher education landscape evolves, a nuanced examination of tuition rise drivers is essential. This study utilizes cross-sectional data from the National Center for Education Statistics to …

Table Of Contents

Early College Folio

(2023) "Table of Contents," Early College Folio: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/earlycollegefolio/vol3/iss1/1

Understanding Undergraduate Student Borrowing In China: A Qualitative Analysis, Hanwen Zhang

Journal of Student Financial Aid

As China moved from elite to mass higher education, student borrowers as the product of state intervention have surged. Yet little attention has been paid to their voices. This study conducts reflexive thematic analysis with a qualitative inquiry into lived experiences of 41 current borrowers. A five-factor typology of debt attitudes yields a dynamic explanation of debt and repayment complexities. Students perceive borrowing as an investment in human and social capital. They are, however, cautious of consumer credit. Far from being a deterrent or added burden, educational indebtedness grants them a measure of freedom and autonomy in college. And they …

Review: Teaching Stem To First Generation College Students: A Guidebook For Faculty And Future Faculty By Gail Horowitz, Jessica S. Robbins

Early College Folio

Book Review: Gail Horowitz’s Teaching STEM to First Generation College Students: A Guidebook for Faculty and Future Faculty (Information Age Publishing, 2019). Horowitz taught chemistry at Bard High School Early College Newark.

Artist Into An Educator—Educator Inside An Artist, Raheela Qabool Abro Ms

Early College Folio

This study is a self-investigation of the author's identity by exploring her two professions: an artist as well as an art educator. Her insights as an educator provided a background for her as an artist through the production of this series of miniature artworks created with cell phone SIM cards. A SIM card, which stands for “Subscriber Identification Module,” contains information tied to the identity of the individual using it. For this reason, the author chose it as a medium for creating an art series to represent identity. In the dialogue of artist and educator, Abro confronts changes to the …

Teaching Food Studies In Early College: Experiments In Collaboration, Cynthia Brown, Maryann Tebben

Early College Folio

This article outlines the process of designing and teaching a collaborative course on sustainable food and agriculture on multiple campuses at once, including two early college institutions. The authors offer insights on the specific elements of the course they designed as well as methods for designing the course, what worked in practice, and what they would change. This article will be useful for faculty who would like to work with other early college colleagues to plan a collaborative course in general or a specific course on sustainable food and farms.

Commitment To Access: A Conversation About The Unconventional And College-In-Prison, Elías Beltrán, Megan Callaghan

Early College Folio

The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) currently operates full-tuition scholarship Bard College degree programs across seven New York State prisons, three Microcollege campuses created in partnership with community-based institutions, and on the Annandale campus of Bard College, where adult students are completing degrees through the BardBac. Since 2005 when the first degrees were granted to BPI students, the program has issued over 5,000 credits and more than 700 degrees.

This conversation between BPI alumnus Elías Beltrán, who earned his Bard College bachelor’s degree in 2017 while incarcerated, and Megan Callaghan, the program’s Dean, touches upon Elías’s upcoming transition to BPI faculty, …

Rolling A Boulder Up A Mountain: The Path To Higher Education In Displacement Concepts, Rebecca Granato

Early College Folio

Students in contexts affected by displacement and forced migration are at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing and successfully completing higher education, as well as translating their learning into post-graduation opportunities. Universities with clear social missions and networks of institutions have the power and the obligation to support the creation of “opportunities pipelines” for these populations.

Solving Higher Education In Burma, The Global South, And Beyond, Myat Su San

Early College Folio

By introducing readers to a migrant student from Burma, the author unpacks the longstanding and increasingly complicated barriers to higher education, which many students face across the Global South. Readers are then introduced to one institution seeking to dismantle those barriers through innovation and expansive access, Parami University.

Move, May Honey Maung

Early College Folio

“Move” is a call to action that urges leaders to work together to create a world where education is accessible and inclusive to everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status or background. Drawing inspiration from the author’s own educational experiences as both a student and employee of Phaung Daw Oo, this poem is a reminder that education is not a privilege but a fundamental human right; we all have a responsibility to ensure that it is available to all learners. The author—whose country is currently facing violence and economic and educational instability due to a February 2021 coup d’état—relays the hopeful …

Case Study: Phaung Daw Oo International University, Yee Wai Than Ma

Early College Folio

The case study discusses an unconventional path to education in Myanmar, one that serves as an alternative to government-controlled institutions. The article highlights the challenges faced by students and educators in the country and presents Phaung Daw Oo Monastic School (PDO) and its mission to contribute to society through excellence in education and lifelong learning. The school provides necessary schooling for children who did not receive adequate education at the traditional age, students who are up to five years off from what is considered aligned with the expectations of state-sponsored education. The article also discusses the establishment of Phaung Daw …

Editor's Note, Kyaw Moe Tun

Early College Folio

Editor's Note, Early College Folio, Volume 2, Issue 2 (Spring 2023).

Contributors

Early College Folio

Contributors, Early College Folio, Volume 2, Issue 2 (Spring 2023).

Table Of Contents

Early College Folio

Table of Contents, Early College Folio, Volume 2, Issue 2 (Spring 2023).