Higher Education

Karen Detlefsen on a back porch in the snow.

Karen Detlefsen named Penn vice provost for education

The professor of philosophy in the School of Arts & Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Graduate School of Education, has been named vice provost for education at the University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1.

Leo Charney ・

Students and staff sitting and eating at round tables. A screen in the back reads, "let's talk!"

How to engage academic wellness services

The Weingarten Center provides disabilities services, tutoring, and learning resources for students across all 12 schools. The Center employs an integrative approach connecting students with the resources they need to perform at the highest level.

Kristina García ・

Marcus Wright

COVID communications and first generation students

Marcus Wright, undergraduate program manager and academic coordinator in the Department of Sociology and doctoral student at the Graduate School of Education, analyzes academic messaging to expose blind spots.

From OMNIA ・

View of Philadelphia skyline with Penn Park in foreground

Invested and engaged

In a Q&A, Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli reflects on the University’s latest Economic Impact Report and the new effort to include an account of Penn’s civic engagement and impact on Philadelphia, its residents, and surrounding communities.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・



In the News


NBC News

Confusing rules, loopholes and legal issues: College vaccination plans are a mess

Eric Feldman of the Law School spoke about how vaccine mandates could affect colleges and universities. “There are likely to be many students who are only comfortable being in a classroom where everyone is required to be vaccinated,” he said.

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The Hill

It's time to tell students how much college costs

Laura Perna of the Graduate School of Education wrote an opinion piece about students’ need for transparency about the true cost of college, not just the sticker price.

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Inside Higher Ed

The fight for diverse, inclusive, antiracist, and just democracies

Ira Harkavy and Rita Hodges of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships and others co-wrote an op-ed about higher education and systemic oppression. “Just as many colleges and universities are reckoning with their own institutional histories of exclusion, higher education as a field must recognize where it has failed and come up short. Only then can it come honestly to tables with communities, governments, and citizens to build inclusive, antiracist democracies together,” they wrote.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Temple’s business school sees virtual reality as future of online learning

The pandemic has necessitated innovation in remote learning. “There’s been a move to using high-quality interactive online learning environments,” says Ryan Baker, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education who studies how data can be used to improve online learning. Baker predicts that although most schools will return to more traditional modes of teaching, the online platforms that gained a foothold during the pandemic will come to shape the future of homework by bringing it more online.

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The Chronicle of Higher Education

A system leader sells his vision for remaking public higher ed

Joni Finney of Graduate School of Education is quoted on the effectiveness of the chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. 

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The New York Times

Set up branches of elite colleges to expand access?

Rebecca Stein of the Online Learning Initiative responded to an op-ed that suggested universities open multiple campuses in order to diversify the student body. “Teaching online allows universities to reach more students, and more diverse students. It is the path to meeting both the high bar of quality and the goal of inclusion,” she wrote. “Instead of building a campus in Houston, let’s be bold and build a virtual campus.”

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