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Higher Education Editor

Jon Marcus

Jon Marcus, higher-education editor, has written about higher education for the Washington Post, USA Today, Time, the Boston Globe, Washington Monthly, is North America higher-education correspondent for the Times (U.K.) Higher Education magazine, and contributed to the book Reinventing Higher Education. His Hechinger coverage has won national awards from the Education Writers Association and he was a finalist for an award for beat reporting from the New York chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The former editor of Boston magazine, Marcus holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree from Bates College. A journalism instructor at Boston College, he says he ends up learning from his students far more than he teaches them.

Recent Stories

The Old Manse, the centerpiece of Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock. Federal data show that of the 201 low-income freshmen who began at the college in 2011, none had graduated six years later.

Billions in federal financial aid is going to students who aren’t graduating

First-ever formal look at biggest college grant fund exposes generally poor results

Divided We Learn

by  Jon Marcus  – August 27, 2018

Alana Wolf was accepted to Cornell University, which told her to go somewhere else as a freshman and come back as a sophomore under a little-known policy called conditional admission. She spent her freshman year at Ithaca College and will enter Cornell this fall.

Seeking advantage, colleges are increasingly admitting students as sophomores

Some applicants are told: Start here after going somewhere else for freshman year

Higher Education

by  Jon Marcus  – August 23, 2018

A student walks past the Bender Library on the American University campus in Washington, D.C. American is one of 32 colleges and universities with an accelerated program that lets students earn bachelor’s degrees in thee years instead of four, which one management expert has criticized for helping only undergraduates who are already very well prepared.

Critics warn that well-meaning reforms may be lowering the quality of college

Signs emerge that some are cutting corners to produce more graduates more quickly

Higher Education

by  Jon Marcus  – August 17, 2018

At least four colleges and universities in the Midwest alone have added certificate or associate degree programs in beer fermentation, brewing, brew management and wine and viticulture technology, among the 41,446 degree or certificate programs colleges and universities have added since 2012.

Panicked universities in search of students are adding thousands of new majors

Despite tight budgets and high risks, colleges hope niche degrees will spur demand

Higher Education

by  Jon Marcus  – August 9, 2018

North Carolina's attorney general shut down the Charlotte School of Law before it was scheduled to open this past fall.

As feds pull back, states step in to regulate for-profit colleges and universities

Securities filings show an industry increasingly vexed about state oversight, enforcement

Higher Education

by  Jon Marcus  – July 7, 2018

race and college admission

Facts about race and college admission

Political winds may shift, but racial factors in college success statistics don’t

Divided We Learn

by  Jon Marcus  – July 6, 2018

The line between Texas and Arkansas in front of the bi-state federal building, which straddles both. Texas A&M University at Texarkana has one of the lowest retention rates of public higher-education institutions; 55 percent who started in 2012 were gone by 2016.

More high school grads than ever are going to college, but 1 in 5 will quit

New data show little progress in retaining students, despite efforts to plug the leak

Higher Education

by  Jon Marcus  – July 5, 2018

Sweet Briar College in Virginia. The liberal arts college was saved from closing only by the intervention of alumni and others.

With enrollment sliding, liberal arts colleges struggle to make a case for themselves

To thwart the skepticism of prospective students, some map job options, offer guarantees

Higher Education

by  Jon Marcus  – May 18, 2018

University of Washington freshman Jenica Tran says it’s mostly up to students to make sure they graduate on time. “You can get the help if you go out to seek it, but you have to do it on your own,” she says.

Embattled colleges focus on an obvious fix: helping students graduate on time

While most students expect to earn degrees in four years, fewer than half actually do

Higher Education

by  Jon Marcus  – May 14, 2018

Garret Morgan is training as an ironworker near Seattle, and already has a job that pays him $50,000 a year.

High-paying jobs go begging while high school grads line up for bachelor’s degrees

Huge shortages loom in the skilled trades, which require less — and cheaper — training

Higher Education

by  Jon Marcus  – April 23, 2018

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