Blog

Read Dr. Boston’s posts offering his insights into higher education, K-12 education, and technology.

Recent Articles | Page 4

The Coming Wave: the Power of AI and the 21st…

April 8, 2024

Mustafa Suleyman is no stranger to Artificial Intelligence (AI). He co-founded two AI companies, DeepMind and Inflection AI. Recently, it was announced that he is leaving Inflection AI to become…

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The Evolution of U.S. Higher Education: A 380-Year History

March 28, 2024

Recently, I was honored to be asked to deliver the keynote speech at the 2024 Annual Membership Meeting of the Education Finance Council. The Education Finance Council is the national…

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March 2024 AI Update: Transformations in Education, Regulation, and Industry…

March 21, 2024

I continue to be amazed by the frequency of articles about the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) products and applications. There are far too many Generative AI or LLM products to…

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Will Funding Shortfalls in Mississippi Close Public Universities?

March 14, 2024

Financial pressures are causing several states to consider consolidating public universities. These institutions face declining enrollments and college operating costs increasing at rates higher than consumer inflation. Meanwhile, state budgets…

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Will Underemployed College Graduates Face Career Limbo?

February 29, 2024

For years, college presidents and other higher education policy wonks have promoted the lifetime earnings gap between high school and college graduates. The figures cited have ranged from $1.1 million…

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Private School Tuition Discounting: A Sound Business Model?

February 21, 2024

My interest in business models stems from one of my summer jobs during college. What I learned still informs my thoughts about private school tuition discounting today. I worked at…

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Higher Education Disruption – More Frequent With Deeper Changes

February 6, 2024

It’s almost impossible for a week to go by without reading about financial difficulties for institutions in the higher ed sector. From small private colleges with projected enrollment declines to…

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The “Myths” About Online Education

February 4, 2024

I received an email from a student asking me what he could do when people state that American Military University (AMU) or American Public University (APU) are “diploma mills” or…

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Pennsylvania’s Higher Ed – Transformation or Disruption?

February 1, 2024

Pennsylvania’s Higher Education system has been struggling for a few years. Triggered primarily by declining enrollments, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) proposed cost cuts and campus consolidations…

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Artificial Intelligence Update

January 26, 2024

The volume and frequency of news about Artificial Intelligence applications and tools has been unprecedented. Over the past year, I have attempted to provide coverage of singularly important releases like…

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SUNY System Forecasts a Future $1 Billion Loss

January 16, 2024

Forecasts of future operating losses for private and public colleges and universities have appeared fairly frequently in recent months. When a newspaper article written by Times Union reporter Kathleen Moore…

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Artificial Intelligence Update

January 8, 2024

I’ve been writing about Artificial Intelligence for over 10 years. The field of AI research dates to the 1950’s. Advances in the field over the years since have accelerated as…

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Private School Finances: Echoes of the College Tuition Crisis

January 3, 2024

Whenever I talk about increases in college tuition over the past four decades, I begin with the 18% tuition increase implemented by Harvard University in 1978 followed by a decade…

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On the Brink: Financial Challenges Facing Small Colleges

December 19, 2023

The trials and tribulations of small college economics are not something new. Pre-pandemic, Bob Zemsky, Susan Shaman, and Susan Baldridge published The College Stress Test outlining a methodology to determine…

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Predictions 2024 | Insights for Online & Professional Education

December 14, 2023

During my tenure as president at the American Public University System (APUS), APUS was a member of UPCEA (University Professional Continuing Education Association). UPCEA now markets itself as the Online…

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Subjects of Interest

Artificial Intelligence/AI

EdTech

Higher Education

Independent Schools

K-12

Science

Student Persistence

Workforce