The methods for repaying student loans are “inconsistent and sometimes irrational” and “highly complex,” according to a report that calls for new approaches to borrowing and repaying.

Charles Miller, the head of the Education Department's higher ed commission, offers his emerging views on "accountability."

Paula M. Krebs and Mary Krebs Flaherty -- sisters who work at very different institutions -- trade stories and questions.

Wick Sloane, a former state university CFO, asks: Why are we abandoning public higher education and strangling access?

For all the animosity that pervades the tone of discussion between France and America, there are things that both nations have in common, and lessons that both can teach each other. The recent rioting in Paris’ banlieues (suburbs) provides a counterpoint to the disaster wrought in Katrina’s wake in New Orleans that leaves lessons to be learned by both sides. And unfortunately, both governments’ responses, so far, suggest they have not done so.

One reason that people avoid civic and political engagement is the potential for conflict with those who hold different views.

The second week of September, independent of and unknown to one another, an IU Student Association (IUSA) exec, a student from Hillel and an Advocate for Community Engagement student employee from Mississippi came to my office. They all wanted to know if my office could put together an alternative spring break service-learning trip to the hurricane devastated South. “

IU Kokomo has participated in the American Democracy Project, and I became co-chair when I began my appointment in the Office of Student Activities in July 2004. Shortly after beginning the job, I was able to attend a national conference on civic engagement and wrap my hands around a vague topic that is misunderstood by a lot of people.

The most exciting reform taking place in higher education today may not be assessment, accountability, or new uses of technology, but rather the rediscovery of an old mission, the transmission of fundamental social and ethical values as we prepare our students for lifelong active participation in civic affairs.