At AKA, we closely follow trends and latest developments
in higher education and the nonprofit sector.
Here are some recent articles that we found particularly informative.
Articles
From Foreign Affairs An Attack on America’s Universities Is an Attack on American Power By Sarah Kreps The White House has frozen billions of grant dollars to top research institutions to score political points—severing a relationship between academia and the government that has propelled prosperity, innovation, and national security since WWII. If the government allows ideological discomfort to disrupt its alliance with research universities, the author argues, it will sacrifice the nation’s competitive advantages. Cutting support for university research is "not a principled political stance; it is a friendly-fire assault on U.S. national security." Read this article
From The New York Times Harvard’s Endowment Is $53.2 Billion. What Should It Be For? By Ginia Bellafante Tracing the origins and approaches of university endowments, this article explores its title question in light of the Trump war on higher ed. For decades, institutions have taken it as catechism to spend no more than 5% of market value over time, rejecting use of the endowment as a "rainy day fund." As a result, endowments have become ends in themselves—stand-ins for the university’s purpose. Faced with existential challenges at the current moment, the author argues, universities "might ask what besides money they want to leave behind." Read this article
From The Atlantic Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market By Derek Thompson College graduates are entering an economy worse for them than in any month going back four decades. The author looks at a key economic indicator—the historically much lower unemployment rate of young college graduates compared to that of the overall labor force—and argues that its recent, rapid, relative rise is exactly what one would expect to see if employers are replacing young workers with AI. Though he invites skepticism of this interpretation, he asserts that, regardless, "the labor market for young grads is a flashing yellow light." Read this article
From Wired A Philosopher Released an Acclaimed Book About Digital Manipulation. The Author Ended Up Being AI By Anna Lagos To make a statement about technology, truth, and power in the digital age, philosopher Andrea Colamedici authored his latest book under a pseudonym hiding a "hybrid human-algorithmic creation." In reality, this was Colamedici himself, using AI to generate concepts and then critique them. He compares cheating with AI versus prompting it to generate perspectives that challenge one’s own beliefs—using AI "as an interlocutor that helps us think differently." With this distinction, Colamedici gets at a fundamental tenet of higher learning. Read this article
From The Hechinger Report Apprenticeships are a trending alternative to college—but there’s a hitch By Jon Marcus Despite strong public interest in apprenticeships and bipartisan support for them, demand far exceeds supply. Employers hesitate due to the expense, red tape, and uncertainty about keeping trained apprentices. Proposed solutions include government subsidies to employers and funding for intermediaries to connect prospective apprentices with employers. Ironically, even as growing public skepticism about college makes apprenticeships appealing, employers' resistance is shaped by their historical reliance on colleges to train people for work. Read this article
