Andrew Davis

I try to avoid shamelessly passing along links without any commentary; today you’ll have to suffer the indignity of such a post.

If your institution is in Ontario, you might be able to find out

Is education a right or an investment? The debate continues here

Billions owed to the government proves many people benefit from student loans

Good or bad? Right or wrong? Just different?

Okay, a brief review of British education. Unlike North America, students across the country (countries, really) write standardized exams. These have been awarded a bunch of different names over the years (O-levels and A-levels versus various certificates), but the crux of the matter is that students typically write one set of exams (ordinary levels) at the end of grade 11 and have been doing so since the 1950s. Passing these exams is not typically considered preparation for university, which would generally require advanced levels.

Like any business, private universities rely on keeping their customers happy

As some of you may have noticed by now, I have a short piece in the university edition of Maclean’s. If you want to comment or ask questions, this is the space.

Everything comes at a price, monetary or not

A professor of an unnamed liberal arts discipline explains his decision to leave academia.

I couldn’t help but chuckle when this event popped up on my facebook. I realize some of you may not be indocrinated, so I’ll post the concise summary here:

Baylor University is being called “the poster child for SAT misuse” after the student newspaper revealed an unusual practice: paying admitted freshmen to retake the SAT and offering large financial rewards for those whose scores go up by certain levels.While the university says that its approach is designed to give out more scholarship aid, it is being denounced as a cynical attempt to boost SAT averages (which dropped for the class in which this approach is being used) to try to improve the university’s standing with U.S. News & World Report.