Talks address access, affordability in higher education

As college costs nationwide have increased in recent years, the accessibility and affordability of higher education have been threatened.

In his Academy Evening talks titled “Keeping College Accessible: Charting a New Course for Higher Education,” University of Arizona professor Gary Rhoades will provide a seasoned, national perspective on the key factors affecting college affordability, social stratification, and educational quality.

These Academy Evening talks are presented by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in partnership with the Wisconsin Alumni Association and UW–Parkside.

Rhodes will host two free, public Academy Evening talks, focusing on current patterns in state policy and the paths of higher education institutions. Rhodes will also offer suggestions for charting a new course, and, following the talk, take questions from the audience:

• Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art lecture hall, 227 State St., Madison;
• Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m. at the UW–Parkside Student Center Cinema, 900 Wood Road, Kenosha

The Madison talk will be live-streamed at the Wisconsin Academy website here.

Rhoades is professor of higher education at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he has been a faculty member since 1986 and directed the university’s Center for the Study of Higher Education from 1997 to 2009. From January 2009 to June 2011, Rhoades served as general secretary of the American Association of University Professors in Washington, D.C.