Unlike a scientific experiment that can keep controls and treated samples isolated in separate test tubes, the MOOC experiment is playing out in one of the messier corners of the already messy real world: academia.

When any sector of the economy undergoes sweeping change -- just as higher ed is experiencing now -- every new development feels like a major turning point. But in hindsight, what we think of as big moments at the time often turn out to be just blips in the life cycle of an industry.

This isn't just the year of the massive open online course; it's also the year of two other hot topics in higher education—student debt and a barren...

In this episode, we hear from Richard Linder, who, determined not to take on any student debt, cobbled together an associate degree for $3,000 with ac...

It seems we send some kids off to college because there is nowhere else to put them. The campus is a convenient, if expensive, warehouse.

For students, the real-world institutional experience -- the socialization, the sheer human contact with peers, faculty, and the institution at large -- can be one of the richest and most rewarding aspects of the college years.

After graduating from high school, he enrolled in Moberly Area Community College, a half-hour south of Macon. Two semesters later, the 28-year-old dropped out. His transcript was filled with A's, but he was bored in his classes.

As long as we have not made the case for the merit of the content and process of education, the war and the game will persist. Students will find ways around the requirements. And the UnemployedProfessors will find plenty of jobs scamming the system they regard as corrupt.

In the Chronicle of Higher Education's fifth annual survey of faculty and staff, 103 colleges were recognized as "Great Colleges To Work For" based on...

How much responsibility do colleges bear in helping launch the careers of their new graduates?Until recently, not much. Now, prospective students and their parents are increasingly weighing the value of the degree against its cost.

When Harvard and MIT announced that they would offer online courses free to the masses, they pledged $60 million to the effort. All for courses that, for now, won't bring in a penny in tuition revenue.

There is agreement we have a problem with K-12 education, but there is not a widespread recognition that it starts at the top... at the university level.

What happens to the value of the college degree when top universities are essentially giving away some of their courses free?

In the last month, I have talked with students at six institutions that represent nearly every corner of our diverse higher-ed system. My goal was to engage the students in the debates that seem to be swirling around them but so often don't include them.

The Yale-NUS college train has left the station, according to this spin, and while some dissidents may have hoped to derail it by dancing a dance of protest, those who understand how the world really works will now get on with doing that work.

Advances in technology can now link together institutions that are separated by thousands of miles.

As some expensive private colleges compete to fill their seats and cash-strapped public colleges look for ways to handle more students, today's emerging providers will get a second look by college leaders and students seeking quality alternatives.

Project Rose was on the agenda when senior for-profit executives held a luxury retreat in Telluride, Colorado, in 2010. Amid photos of skiing and premium accommodations, the meeting brochure described a session, "Shakespeare had it right. Words matter."