College Matters from The Chronicle

What’s Up with Grade Inflation? Feb 25, 2025

Chances are, you’ve met a straight-A college student. There are plenty of them around. And some people aren’t too happy about that. A new wave of “meritocracy” obsessives seem convinced that there are just too many good grades being given out. But what drives our nation’s periodic panic about grade inflation? And what does it tell us about what we want grades to mean?

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Guest: Beckie Supiano, Senior Writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

How Bad Are Helicopter Parents? Feb 18, 2025

With GPS tracking, “concierge moms,” and high-priced dormitory-design consultants, it’s easier than ever for college students’ parents to go overboard. But is extreme helicopter parenting as pervasive as it seems? And how much are changing cultural norms affecting the relationships parents have with their young-adult children? We asked Lisa Heffernan, co-founder of Grown and Flown, a wildly popular online resource for parents, to break down what’s really happening between parents and young college students.

Related Reading:

Parents, Young Adult Children and the Transition to Adulthood (Pew Research Center)
Tuition: $9,400. Dorm Room Interior Designer: $10,000? (The New York Times)
Varsity Blues (Chronicle coverage)
Surveillance Parents Face the Ultimate Firewall: Freshman Year (The Wall Street Journal)

Guest: Lisa Heffernan , co-founder of Grown and Flown

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Unwinding DEI: Part II Feb 11, 2025

Political opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs has been building for years, but something happened last October that felt like a turning point. In a deeply reported article for The New York Times Magazine, Nicholas Confessore cast doubt on the effectiveness of one of the nation’s best-funded DEI programs. Titled “The University of Michigan Doubled Down on DEI. What Went Wrong?,” Confessore’s article added fuel to a debate over whether DEI programs are meeting their stated goals or actually making campus climates worse. In an interview with College Matters, Confessore talks about his investigation, and what it meant for The Gray Lady to take a critical view of DEI.

Related Reading:

The Substitute Teacher: Millions of students have to use courseware. Often, the product replaces the professor.
The Homework Tax: For students already struggling to afford college, courseware can add to the burden.
The ‘Textbook’ That Reads You: When students use courseware, how much personal data is it collecting?

Guest: Taylor Swaak, tech and innovation reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Is Loneliness as Bad for Students as Smoking? Nov 12, 2024

Cap down. Earbuds in. Eyes on phones. Despite what you may see in college viewbooks, many students say they feel lonely on campus — isolated in dorm rooms or walled off in tech bubbles. But talking about student loneliness is a tricky issue for colleges.

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Overcoming Student Loneliness: Strategies for Connection (Full Report)
Fighting the Mental-Health Crisis Narrative: Do young people misunderstand everyday stress?

Guest: Alexander C. Kafka, senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Trump's Pet-Eating Claim Meant Crisis for This Campus Leader Nov 05, 2024

During his September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump amplified a debunked rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pet cats and dogs. Soon, Wittenberg University, a private institution in Springfield, began receiving violent threats. Michael Frandsen, the university’s president, feared the worst — and got an education in the viral power of misinformation.

Related Reading:

At 2 Colleges, the Fall Semester Has Been Disrupted by Trump’s Lies About Eating Pets
If Trump Wins … His allies are preparing to overhaul higher education. The sector is woefully ill-prepared to defend itself.
4 years of Fighting: Trump vs. Higher Ed

Guest: Michael Frandsen, president of Wittenberg University

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Harris, Trump, and Higher Ed Oct 29, 2024

You may not have heard much about higher education in the presidential campaign, but it’s definitely on the ballot.

Related Reading:

Rhetoric and Records Shape the Presidential Race
College for All? Not Anymore.
Obama’s Legacy: An Unlikely Hawk on Higher Education

Guest: Rick Seltzer, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

The Consultants are Coming! Oct 22, 2024

Outside consultants are helping cash-strapped colleges cut majors, like foreign languages, that once seemed essential — and are taking the heat for those unpopular decisions.

Related Reading:

When Cost-Cutting Universities Hire Consultants, Who’s Really Making the Decisions?
Is Higher Ed Growing or Shrinking?
Gordon Gee’s Last Stand

Guest: David Jesse, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

Ben Sasse’s $38K Sushi Bill Oct 15, 2024

As president of the U. of Florida, Ben Sasse, a former U.S. senator, steered millions of dollars toward consultants and hired his Republican allies to serve in lucrative jobs. And he threw some expensive parties.

Related Reading:

Sasse’s spending spree: Former UF president channeled millions to GOP allies, secretive contracts (The Independent Florida Alligator)
Lavish Catering Under Ex-UF President (Fresh Take Florida)
Ben Sasse Spent Far More Than His Predecessor. Including on These Reports.
Ben Sasse is U. of Florida’s Next President. His Critics are Seeing Red.

Guest: Garrett Shanley, reporter for The Independent Florida Alligator / intern at The Chronicle of Higher Education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Pay for Play Oct 08, 2024

Would big-name universities pay a magazine to write puff pieces about them? You bet.

Guest: Francie Diep, senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education

Related Reading:

The Colleges That Pay for Positive Coverage
Even for ‘Mad Men’ Obsessives, Higher Ed Marketing Inspires Unease
Welcome to the Sponsored Campus: More parts of the college experience are up for sale than ever before, experts say.

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Pomona's Dirty Laundry Oct 01, 2024

A feud among three professors inspired a debate over woke politics in academe.

Guest: Emma Pettit, senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education

Related Reading:

When a Department Self-Destructs: Battles over money. Allegations of racism. A chair ousted.
Weird at My School - Aaron Kunin’s newsletter

For more on today's episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

College? Maybe Not. Sep 24, 2024

The lure of decent-paying jobs available without college degrees has some people rethinking whether college is necessary. The trend has big implications for the workforce, society, and the communities where people live and work.

Guest: Eric Kelderman, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education

Related Reading:

The Lure of Work: In Iowa, enrollments are falling as businesses recruit high-school grads. Can colleges come up with a better pitch?
College for All? Not Anymore. Democrats have drastically changed their tune on the necessity of a bachelor’s degree.
The Public Perception Puzzle: A series by The Chronicle to examine higher ed's public perception problem — and the solutions to it.

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Professors at the Protest Sep 17, 2024

When protests against the Israel-Hamas war swept across college campuses this past spring, student activists were joined in some cases by their professors. That’s what happened at Indiana University, where state police led a particularly aggressive crackdown on demonstrators. The professors’ reasons for participating were varied and complex, but their decisions point toward a thorny and persistent question: Do faculty members have any business joining student protests?

Guest: Kate Hidalgo Bellows, staff reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education

Related Reading:

Mideast War, Midwest Crisis: Indiana U. made a series of unpopular decisions. Then it called the police on protesters.
‘These Terms are Just Absurd’: How One University Disciplined Professors Accused of Assisting an Encampment
As an 8-Day Protest Shut Down a University, Administrators and Faculty Sparred Over What to Do
Cooley law firm’s review Indiana University’s handling of protests.

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

What the FAFSA Just Happened? Sep 10, 2024

Where is my financial aid? What is college really going to cost me? These are the kinds of questions lots of students are asking this academic year, and it’s all because of a government screw-up. The disastrous rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA, has created uncertainty about students’ financial-aid packages — and many of the most vulnerable are having the hardest time.

Guest: Eric Hoover, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education

Related Reading:

The FAFSA Isn’t Fixed for Everyone
Stuck in Limbo: How the FAFSA crisis has stranded higher ed’s most vulnerable applicant

For more, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.

Is Reading Over for Gen Z Students? Sep 10, 2024

Students are arriving at college woefully unprepared, professors say. Many lack the necessary endurance to read long passages, and some question the point of reading at all. We explore why this is happening, and what can be done about it.

Guest: Beth McMurtrie, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education

Related Reading:

Is This the End of Reading? Students are coming to college less able and less willing to read. Professors are stymied.
Are You Assigning Too Much Reading? Or Just Too Much Boring Reading?
The Loss of Things I Took for Granted: Ten years into my college teaching career, students stopped being able to read effectively. (Slate)

For more, visit chronicle.com/collegematters.