Today in the New York Times, Elie Mystal of the influential Above The Law blog has an Op-Ed about HBCUs and For-Profit Law Schools. It is in response to news that broke late last week about historically black Bethune Cookman partnering with for-profit Arizona Summit Law School to offer Bethune Cookman students special admission. MystalRead More “Why Would an HBCU Partner With A For-Profit Law School?”
Category Archives: Essays
O They Mad?
I get this question a lot: what do the for-profit college people say about or to you??? Let me be clear. These people do speak to me. Many of them have followed me for years. They come to my conferences, they email me, they talk down to and about me on social media. Some ofRead More “O They Mad?”
Sociology of Sports + Lower Ed
Someone on Twitter said this to me today: Is this covered in Lower Ed @tressiemcphd ? https://t.co/F4fQsuflAK — KevinLin (@KevinLindsay) March 13, 2017 It’s a link to this video: I have exactly NO IDEA what is happening in that video but it is fascinating. For-profit DeVry University had a basketball team. And…some things happened? TheRead More “Sociology of Sports + Lower Ed”
“Lower Ed” Lives
I had a few personal and professional goals for “Lower Ed”. I surpassed almost all of them this week. This post is an update and a thank you for everyone who made that possible. First, some updates. I visited Trevor Noah at The Daily Show. It was International Women’s Day. Trevor gave me a chance toRead More ““Lower Ed” Lives”
A Few Notes on Gaslighting
A few million (mostly) women in the U.S. and abroad marched yesterday. They marched to protest various forms of oppression, symbolized in a new presidential platform that involved explicit racism, sexism, and xenophobia. That seems like a good thing. Today, the President of the United States’ surrogates held several media junkets. The point of theseRead More “A Few Notes on Gaslighting”
So, 2016 Happened
2016 happened. Boy did it happen. It’s that time of year when people I admire start reflecting on their year. I belong to many tribes and each has its own flavor on end-of-year assessments. Academic Tribe Academics recommend reviewing your productivity highlights to remind yourself that you are not a failure. They also recommend reviewingRead More “So, 2016 Happened”
How I Read “Between The World and Me”
Editors at The Atlantic invited me to review Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between The World and Me”. It’s a three week book club. Today marks the second week. The invitation came in on a Thursday, I think. The first review was to go live on the following Monday. I’m a few months out of grad school readingRead More “How I Read “Between The World and Me””
“We’re Not Phoenix” Prestige, MOOCs, Etc.
In a recent talk at UC-Irvine I mentioned that MOOC purveyors had learned lessons from the trajectory of for-profit higher education. I made a passing mention to 2tor CEO saying they would not have to build prestige; they’d borrow it instead. I thought this quote also sums up that point nicely: “We’re not Phoenix,” insistsRead More ““We’re Not Phoenix” Prestige, MOOCs, Etc.”
Blanket “Don’t Go To Graduate School!” Advice Ignores Race and Reality?
When I decided to return to graduate school I was about as devoid of prestige as one can be. I was old, from a no-name undergraduate university (worse, maybe, an HBCU!), I lacked social capital, my undergraduate performance was fine but not stellar, and I did not know the difference between sociology and anthropology. Fortunately,Read More “Blanket “Don’t Go To Graduate School!” Advice Ignores Race and Reality?”
How “Admissions” Works Differently At For-Profit Colleges: Sorting and Signaling
In the dominant discourse you hear two lines about for-profit colleges. They are either the solution to expansion and access problems in the traditional college sector, which has ignored non-traditional students, or they are draining the federal coffers dry by accelerating the privitization of public education. Despite what some argue, I actually come down aRead More “How “Admissions” Works Differently At For-Profit Colleges: Sorting and Signaling”