Trends in Higher Education

* The Center for Excellence in Higher Education helps donors use philanthropy as a lever to reform higher education. Reform includes a greater emphasis on core curricula, a free-market understanding of economics, a more balanced approach to politics, affordable tuition, tenured faculty who spend more time in the classroom, greater transparency in university governance, and an end to grade inflation.

Founded by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus with $5M in seed money, CEHE helps donors (free of charge) craft contracts with universities to ensure their money is used properly. It will also perform due diligence on these gifts once the agreement is complete. Sometimes, for gifts of $10M or more, CEHE will sponsor a contest among three or four different schooks, each submitting a proposal detailing how the money will be spent.

This year, CEHE will manage contests in the areas of military history and strategy, Middle East studies, entrepreneurship and business history, and the principles of the American founding. www.cehe.org (Excerpts from Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2007)