masters in education vanderbilt

Peabody College

Vanderbilt University’s College of Education and Human Development

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At Peabody, you'll be equipped with the skills, knowledge, and experiences to carve out more than just a successful career path. You'll gain the necessary tools to make a positive difference in the world. 

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Peabody students form collegial relationships with our world-renowned faculty who serve as mentors for academic and career success. We're devoted to creating opportunity in an increasingly diverse society and to solving large societal problems.

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Crescere Aude . In English, it means "dare to grow." It's Vanderbilt's motto. (We pronounce it kreh-sheh-ray ow-day .) At Peabody, we are committed to helping you grow into a leader in the field of education.

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"My studies and experiences at Vanderbilt Peabody College prepared me for my role at the intersection of learning and diversity."

Corinn O'Brien-Ogren Learning, Diversity, and Urban Studies M.Ed.

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Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership and Learning in Organizations

The online program from vanderbilt peabody college of education and human development, request more information.

Ranked as a top-6 education school in the nation by  U.S. News & World Report  in 2023, Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development offers the transformative Peabody experience to forward-thinking leaders inspired to drive organizational change across industries . 1

Gain Critical Leadership Skills for Any Industry

Earn an Ed.D. from a Top-Ranked Education School 1

Apply New Practices Directly to Your Career

Vanderbilt Has the #1 Online Doctorate in Education, According to Fortune Education 2022 Rankings 2

Peabody College faculty developed the doctor of education (Ed.D.) in leadership and learning in organizations with the aim of bridging the divide between theory and practice. The curriculum they built equips Ed.D. students with the deep understanding and contextual experience they need to implement positive change in diverse career fields and communities.

Visit the Ed.D. admissions page to view upcoming deadlines and application requirements.

The Vanderbilt Peabody Online doctoral program is  designed for mid-career professionals who have at least three years of leadership experience . While ranging in age and background, all students in the online Ed.D. have this in common: They are motivated to build on their organizational leadership skills and are committed to creating meaningful change within their industry. 

Build on a Strong Leadership Foundation

Earn a Peabody Online Doctor of Education.

Advancing Your Career in Education and Organizational Leadership

Leaders who want to improve organizations — to drive better results for the people they serve — will find an effective path for advancement in the Peabody Online Ed.D.

Whether corporate, nonprofit, educational, or governmental, workplace communities need support and direction to foster development, leverage resources, create solutions, and resolve complex challenges . The Ed.D. develops inquisitive, results-oriented professionals who can confidently drive widespread change.

Peabody Online Ed.D. students will strengthen their skills in:

• Organizational communication
• Management and leadership
• Inquiry and assessment of systemic issues
• Data analytics for leadership
• Learning and program design

The Ed.D. curriculum prepares students to identify, assess, and resolve organizational challenges from a learning and design perspective, which teaches students to make a positive impact in any industry. Through intensive, applied learning, professionals in the program will be empowered to implement advanced techniques that improve their day-to-day efficacy and long-term career success.

“My peer group is spectacular. It’s just an incredible group of very motivated, bright, and kind people from a lot of very different backgrounds . When I first started the program, I did wonder if I would be the only one who did not come from academia or a teaching background, and that’s very much not the case.”

Amrita Bhowmick, Ed.D. ’22 Chief community officer at Health Union Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Ph.D. vs. Doctorate in Education

Both a Ph.D. in education and a doctorate in education (Ed.D.) are advanced doctoral degrees that emphasize the study of learning and development, but they  differ greatly in curricular and research content, and in potential career outcomes .

An Ed.D. is for professionals who want to solve organizational challenges and improve their abilities as leaders in a wide range of industries and settings.

A Ph.D. in education is for those pursuing a career in education research or teaching within a college or university setting.

If you are wondering “What is a doctorate in education?” or have other doctoral degree-related questions,  visit our Ed.D. vs. Ph.D. page .

What Can I Do with a Doctorate in Education?

Ed.D. programs typically explore advanced management practices, leadership theory, the science and structure of organizations, and curriculum development. While students may apply these subjects to education, they are not limited to this field. The range of curricular topics prepares many Ed.D. graduates to advance in their current positions or seek out new leadership opportunities across industries.

The Peabody Online Ed.D. places a unique emphasis on organizational leadership . The program focuses on three core areas: leadership theory and practice, learning and design, and data analytics. Students examine these subjects as they apply to any organization, be it a higher education institution, a private company, a nonprofit, or a community group. Grounded in theory and practice, this focused study empowers graduates to improve outcomes within any organizational system.

Ed.D. Career Options

Graduates may advance in or enter fields such as:

• Public policy
• Human resources
• Health care
• Government and military
• Criminal justice

Students may advance in or rise into leadership roles such as:

• Chief learning officer
• Policymaker or analyst
• Educational consultant
• Director of human resources
• Training and development manager
• Academic dean
• Superintendent

Top executives, such as chief learning officers or school superintendents, have an annual median salary of $107,680. 3

Take the Next Step toward Advanced Leadership

Now is the time to start your Peabody Online application or request additional information. Scholarships are available.

The Peabody Ed.D. Online Experience

Students in the online Ed.D. complete 54 hours of course work across three areas of leadership and learning: leadership and organizational development, learning and design, and data and analytics . The course work is delivered through a sophisticated online platform and customizable tools that enable advanced collaboration, discussions, and learning.

Learn more about our unique Peabody Online experience .

Weekly Online Classes

Live, online classes led by the Peabody faculty serve as the starting point for engaging group discussions, question-and-answer sessions, and guided learning. The classes take place live on our online platform, allowing students to interact face-to-face no matter where they are.

The program is designed for established professionals. Classes are held weekly during the evening, Central Time, Monday through Thursday . Class attendance is required for all students.

Capstone Project

Using their knowledge and existing data, students identify a real-world organizational issue or problem of practice, test a solution, and make recommendations for long-term improvement. Students then present their projects in front of a faculty panel for assessment.

On-Campus Convenings

Convenings organized by Peabody Online bring students and instructors together, in person, for in-depth discussions, collaborative projects, and creative problem-solving exercises meant to demonstrate students’ new mastery of subject matter and leadership skills.

Students are required to attend three convenings throughout the duration of the program. Each on-campus convening takes place at Vanderbilt University’s campus in Nashville, Tennessee, and happens over the course of two days.

Hours of course work

Final capstone project

Renowned and Supportive Faculty

Our multi-disciplinary faculty members are experienced professionals and experts in their fields. They have designed a high-quality, insightful curriculum, and many serve as mentors who guide Ed.D. students toward success.

All Peabody faculty work toward the objective of helping students give back to their communities. Their dedication ensures that students feel supported as they take the next steps in their careers.

Learn more about our faculty and leadership.

Class Profile

The Peabody Online Ed.D. community comprises leaders from various industries and diverse personal, educational, and geographic backgrounds. Peabody Ed.D. students are inquisitive scholars: They value different perspectives and exchange knowledge with classmates in order to develop innovative solutions.

79 percent of students have 8 or more years of professional experience .

Students range from 25 to 68 years old, with a median age of 39.

States represented

Historically underrepre-sented 4

“I’m starting to see nuances and ideas connect that I didn’t know existed before. I think it’s making me a better not-for-profit leader , and I certainly think it’s making me a more thoughtful supervisor and program leader.”

Michael Hill, Ed.D. ’22 President of the Chautauqua Institution Washington, D.C.

About Peabody College

Founded in 1785, Peabody College of education and human development is known as a world-class research institution dedicated to education, policy, and public service. Ranked one of the nation’s best graduate schools of education in the country by U.S. News & World Report , Peabody College has a longstanding mission to make a meaningful difference in education and leadership. 1

Peabody College also offers graduate and doctoral degree programs on campus. Learn about our on-campus programs.

Get Started Now

Find out how Peabody Online can help you reach your ambitious career goals.

1 U.S. News & World Report ,  Best Education Schools in 2023 . (accessed July 2023) arrow_upward Return to footnote reference

2   Fortune, Best Online Doctorate in Education (EdD) Programs in 2022 . Accessed December 2022. arrow_upward Return to footnote reference

3 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Top Executives  (2020). Accessed May 2021. arrow_upward Return to footnote reference

4 African-American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander arrow_upward Return to footnote reference

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Graduate Schools

Graduate schools within vanderbilt university.

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College of Arts and Science

Owen graduate school of management, vanderbilt school of engineering, vanderbilt university divinity school, vanderbilt university law school, vanderbilt university school of medicine, vanderbilt university school of nursing, vanderbilt university’s peabody college, masters programs, most popular masters programs.

• Business 139 Students
• Pediatric Nursing 139 Students
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• Programs for Foreign Lawyers 66 Students
• Marketing 57 Students
• Special Education and Teaching 55 Students
• School Counseling and Guidance Services 51 Students
• Mental Health Nursing 50 Students
• Business Analytics 49 Students
• Healthcare Management 49 Students

Doctoral Programs

Most popular doctoral programs.

• Law 182 Students
• Organizational Leadership 126 Students
• Medicine 82 Students
• Nursing Science, Education, and Practice 73 Students
• Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology 20 Students
• Educational Administration 20 Students
• Neuroscience and Neurobiology 18 Students
• Microbiology and Immunology 14 Students
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 13 Students
• Biomedical Sciences and Molecular Medicine 12 Students

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Graduate students.

• International (Non-Citizen) 13.4%
• African American 6.9%
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• Multiracial 3%
• Unknown 2.1%
• Native American 0.2%
• Pacific Islander 0.1%

Student Life

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• Prepared me for the real world 10%
• Supportive/helped me grow 38%
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• Less than $25,000 17%
• $25,000 - $50,000 7%
• $50,000 - $75,000 24%
• $75,000 - $100,000 31%
• More than $100,000 21%
• $50,000 - $75,000 10%
• $100,000 - $125,000 3%
• More than $150,000 7%
• Did not graduate yet 79%

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Education at Vanderbilt University

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Education Degrees Available at Vanderbilt

• Bachelor’s Degree in Education
• Master’s Degree in Education
• Doctorate Degree in Education

Vanderbilt Education Rankings

In College Factual's most recent rankings for the best schools for education majors , Vanderbilt came in at #17. This puts it in the top 5% of the country in this field of study. It is also ranked #1 in Tennessee .

Popularity of Education at Vanderbilt

During the 2020-2021 academic year, Vanderbilt University handed out 56 bachelor's degrees in education. Last year, the same number of degrees were handed out.

In 2021, 241 students received their master’s degree in education from Vanderbilt. This makes it the #154 most popular school for education master’s degree candidates in the country.

In addition, 49 students received their doctoral degrees in education in 2021, making the school the #67 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Education Student Diversity at Vanderbilt

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the education majors at Vanderbilt University.

Vanderbilt Education Bachelor’s Program

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 56 education majors earned their bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt. Of these graduates, 18% were men and 82% were women.

The majority of the students with this major are white. About 64% of 2021 graduates were in this category.

The following table and chart show the ethnic background for students who recently graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor's in education.

Vanderbilt Education Master’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 241 students earned a master's degree in education from Vanderbilt. About 78% of these graduates were women and the other 22% were men.

The majority of the students with this major are white. About 66% of 2021 graduates were in this category.

The following table and chart show the ethnic background for students who recently graduated from Vanderbilt University with a master's in education.

Education Majors

Education students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas. Individual majors may not be available for all degree levels.

• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Dansan4444 under License

More about our data sources and methodologies .

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Hearing and Speech Sciences

Master of education of the deaf.

The Master of Education of the Deaf (MDE) is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) . This one to two-year program emphasizes the training needed to develop communication skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The DHSS is home to a unique, interdisciplinary approach to teacher training by combining training in audiology, speech-language pathology, and deaf education.

We encourage all interested students to apply for our graduate program. Students entering the Master of Education of the Deaf program are required to have an undergraduate degree in deaf education, special education, early childhood education, or general education and must have teacher certification. The program will be one year in length (three semesters: Fall, Spring, and Summer including Maymester) for those entering with teacher certification in deaf education and two years (five semesters: Fall, Spring, and Summer including Maymester in year 1, Fall and Spring in year 2) for those entering with teacher certification in an area other than deaf education. The two-year program leads to an endorsement in Special Education PreK-12 Hearing.

The Vanderbilt Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences is committed to recruiting, admitting, and training a diverse student body of future audiologists, speech-language pathologists, educators of the deaf, and researchers. Accordingly, we are continually working to establish and maintain equity and inclusivity in all areas of our educational mission. Our commitment to embrace and promote diversity, equity, and inclusivity is broad with respect to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, nationality, disability, and differences, among others. This commitment is founded on our core belief in equality for all humans. Our goal is that our culture and the diversity of our department will reflect the diversity of the nation and the populations that we serve.  Furthermore, we strongly believe that our focus to embrace diversity is a critical element in education that will prepare our future audiologists, speech-language pathologists, educators, and researchers to serve the populations with whom we work in all settings.    

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• Music Education

A Bachelors and Masters Degree from Vanderbilt in Five Years...

Conservatory-level training....

• Performance opportunities equivalent to those of a performance major - same amount of lessons, recitals, and attention
• World-class musicians as classroom, ensemble, and private instructors
• Applied instruction on primary and secondary instruments - to prepare you for the ever-changing world of music education
• Choral and instrumental conducting with considerable focus on methods and appropriate literature

...With a Liberal Arts Focus

• Vanderbilt's core of liberal arts education allows for maximum flexibility and growth
• Study abroad possibilities in the Junior year
• Intense academic study in a thriving, vibrant city
• Experience every different kind of educational environment - urban, public, charter, parochial, private

Peabody College of Education and Human Development

Peabody college is consistently ranked among the top five education schools in the nation....

• Multiple outside practical experiences and student teaching assignments
• Graduates are immediately certified to teach in Tennessee and have reciprocity agreements in 40 additional states
• Financial aid and merit scholarship opportunities available for all five years of the program

Why Blair-to-Peabody?

Integration and practical experience with a strong set of precollege ensembles....

• Instead of simulated classrooms, you get the experience of observing and teaching children in an ideal educational environment. Our precollege integration features assistantship opportunities with  four youth orchestras , and a  children's chorus program  encompassing six different choirs serving every grade level
• Leadership opportunities with the  Spirit of Gold Marching Band  and  University Concert Band
• Undergraduate-only experience, allowing for ample classroom experience leading to the 5th year internship

Graduates From the Blair-To-Peabody Program...

• hold teaching positions at elementary and secondary schools, as well as universities
• pursue Ph.D. and other doctoral studies at prestigious universities
• hold administrative positions in arts organizations throughout the country
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Music Education Links

• National Association for Music Education
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Areas of Study

• Brass and Percussion
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• Composition and Theory
• Musicians’ Wellness Program
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Enhancements to PhD Education

Vanderbilt University is committed to recruiting, supporting and investing in exceptional graduate students. This Enhanced Funding and Support Model for Doctoral Education launched in May of 2022 with a $5 million annual investment in graduate education.

Enhancements to Doctoral Education Funding

• Increased stipends : 4-21% increase in annual stipends across schools/colleges from AY23-24 to AY24-25 (*Peabody College saw a 21% increase). This brings the annual base stipend for Ph.D. students to $34,000-$38,000 (varies by program/school).
• Regalia reimbursement: Through funding from the Graduate School, a ll graduating Ph.D. students receive a free regalia rental or a $200 discount on the purchase of regalia .    

Launching Student Success Stipend (for incoming PhD and MFA students):   Newly enrolled Ph.D. and MFA students receive a one-time stipend of $2,000 to help them prepare for the upcoming academic year.  

Candidacy Success Supplement: All students who reach candidacy receive $500 as recognition of progress to degree.  

Vanderbilt Awards for Doctoral Discovery (VADD) : In Spring 2023, schools and colleges with Ph.D. programs receive d and distribute d funding from the Provost and Graduate school to assist students in attending conferences, visiting labs for training , and doing fieldwork.  

Graduate School Honors Fellowships: The Graduate School Honors Fellowships (“Topping Awards”) are paid out in two lump sums (one at the start of each semester) to Ph.D. students giving them flexibility to utilize funds at their discretion.  Honors Fellowships were awarded to 382 students in AY23-24; award per student ranges from $2,500 to $10,000. 

Endowed Awards for PhD Students : Each year, the university recognizes students for their outstanding research and provides over $90,000 of endowed scholarship funding.  

Provost Pathbreaking Discovery Award: These $2,500 awards recognizes doctoral students who exhibit exceptional academic excellence in areas such as publications, awards, patents, and other forms of national/international distinction.

• Grant Writing Resources : The Graduate School created a comprehensive, multi-part grant funding "mini-course” in Brightspace, available to all students. This asynchronous course includes discipline-specific resources as well as information on best practices for seeking and writing grants.  

WriteOn!: The Graduate School launched a writing accountability group which provides guided programming and helps them set weekly and monthly progress goals. 

• Dissertation Enhancement Grants: Grants of up to $2,000 are awarded to Ph.D. students with outstanding potential to accelerate progress on their research, adding depth or breadth to their dissertation.

SEC Emerging Scholar s : This  career development program  is designed to prepare scholars for tenured faculty positions in higher education within the Southeastern Conference. 

• Mentoring Awards : This award recognizes the vital role mentorship plays in student success and encourages faculty and doctoral students to develop strong and supportive mentoring relationships.

Department and Student Connections : The Graduate Student Council and the Graduate School are collaborating to provide funding for departments to go toward hosting a dinner or providing refreshments for doctoral students to foster community and belonging. 

Honors Banquet and Doctoral Student Awards: The Graduate School hosts a honors banquet each spring to celebrate student scholarly excellence. Three students receive Outstanding Doctoral Student Awards.  

Friday Fuel: One Friday each month, the Graduate School hosts an informal gathering in the Graduate Student Lounge in Alumni Hall for students to build community and learn about campus resources. 

Graduate Student Appreciation Week: Each spring, the Graduate School hosts various events to celebrate graduate students. This includes the first Graduate Career Closet to provide interview-ready attire to students preparing for the job search. 

• Dental Insurance and Annual Vision Exam: Beginning in AY 23-24, dental insurance and an annual vision exam as part of Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). The annual plan cost per student covered by schools as part of a comprehensive doctoral student financial aid package is $3,977. 

Student Care Network Supports : A number of additional support mechanisms were implemented by the Office of the Dean of students to promote student wellbeing: 

• The Dean of Students in partnership with the Faculty Senate developed a training for faculty and staff regarding support for student mental health. 
• Drop-in consultation hours at the University Counseling Center   are available for graduate and professional students. 
• The Student Care Assistance Program through the  Office of Student Care Coordination (OSCC)  supports graduate students with medical costs. 
• The Student Care Network offers  expanded telehealth options , including physical and behavioral health, as well as nutrition and lactation consultations. 

Enhanced Programming for Career Development: In partnership with Vanderbilt’s Career Center, there are fall and spring colloquia focused on career development specific to doctoral students. This partnership continues  to grow . 

Tr acking Ph.D. Placements: Vanderbilt invested in an innovative university-wide longitudinal tracking of Vanderbilt Ph.D. alumni using data from Academic Analytics regarding PhD placements.  This effort is central to our collective success in meeting our institutional objective of recruiting the best scholars and supporting their career trajectories in top positions across top-tier institutions of higher education as well as the public and private sectors. 

Clarifying the VU/VUMC dual identity process : We are assisting students connected to both Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center with dual identity .

At Vanderbilt, we never stop growing or achieving. It is the Vanderbilt Way. As part of our commitment to our mission, the Graduate School is actively working on ways to better support doctoral education and training at Vanderbilt. Stay tuned for more updates on how we are using the annual investment to improve the lives and access to research and funding for our graduate students and the faculty that support them. 

The Path Toward Program Enhancements

In the Spring of 2021, Provost Cybele Raver announced a new $5 million annual investment in graduate education to show Vanderbilt’s commitment to training and mentoring the next generation of scholars and thought leaders.  

I am honored to support research, scholarship, and professional development in a place that actively seeks opportunities to continuously improve the experience and outcomes of all students. Dean Christie-Mizell

The process involved many listening sessions, conversations, suggestions and feedback with Ph.D. students and faculty . Among the many themes that emerged as a result of a year-long effort to gather information and collaborate across students, faculty, staff and university leadership were the following:

• Financial enhancements to assist with additional non-tuition related costs 
• Support, funding and external grant and workshop opportunities  
• Graduate community enhancements 
• Partnerships to support graduate students 

New Funding Supplements

Five funding supplements were created to promote discovery and collaboration, inspire scholarly excellence and augment student support structures.

This supplement provides support for faculty in Ph.D. programs to bridge the gap between fellowship/grant support and enhanced stipends for doctoral students.    

This award will recognize doctoral students who exhibit exceptional academic excellence in areas such as publications, awards, patents and other forms of national/international distinction. 

This funding mechanism will help recruit highly qualified, diverse Ph.D. candidates by providing five years of financial support through a premium stipend to outstanding students.

This fund invests in cross-disciplinary scholarship and partnerships to support intellectual communities across Ph.D. disciplines and groundbreaking discovery.    

This enhancement invests in necessary support services to enrich the student experience. 

These increased investments in graduate education are critical to advancing our bold innovation and discovery while also advancing Vanderbilt to a new level of global visibility and impact. Provost C. Cybele Raver

Responsible Committees

Executive Sponsors 

• Daniel Diermeier, Chancellor 
• Cybele Raver, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs 

Executive Committee  

• André Christie-Mizell, Vice Provost for Graduate Education 
• Elizabeth Boyd, Executive Director of Operations, Graduate School 
• Kurt Shepherd, Associate Vice Chancellor of Finance  
• John McLean, Associate Provost for PhD Programs 
• John Geer, Dean, College of Arts & Science 
• Camilla Benbow, Dean, Peabody College 
• Philippe Facuhet, Dean, School of Engineering 
• Emilie Townes, Dean, Vanderbilt Divinity School 
• John Kuriyan, Dean, School of Medicine Basic Sciences 
• Pam Jeffries, Dean, Vanderbilt School of Nursing 
• Xavier Purdy, Deputy Chief of Staff, Director of Projects, Office of the Provost 
• John McLean, Associate Provost for PhD Programs, Graduate School 
• Anna Thomas, Director of Events and Communications, Graduate School 
• Amber Palmer-Halma, Deputy Director of University Communications, Division of Communications  
• Terrah Akard, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Graduate School 
• Jennifer Gourley, Director of Finance, Division of Finance 
• Stacey Satchell, Director of Graduate and Postdoc Academic Success, Graduate School 
• Irene Wallrich, Assistant Director of the Graduate Leadership Institute, Graduate School 
• Alayna Hayes, Assistant Provost and Senior Director of the Career Center 
• David Wright, Dean for Graduate Education and Research, College and Arts and Science 
• Duco Jansen, Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Faculty Affairs, School of Engineering 
• Jeanette Mancilla-Martinez, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Graduate Education, Peabody College 
• Kathy Gould, Senior Associate Dean for Biomedical Research Education and Training, School of Medicine Basic Sciences 
• Mariann Piano, Senior Associate Dean for Research, School of Nursing 
• Jimmy Byrd, Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Research, Divinity School 
• Emily Ritter, Director Graduate Studies, Political Science, College and Arts and Science 
• David Cliffel, Director Graduate Studies, Chemistry, College and Arts and Science 
• Antony Reed, Director Graduate Studies, English, College and Arts and Science 
• Cindy Reinhardt-King, Director Graduate Studies, Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering 
• Dan Work, Director Graduate Studies, Civil Engineering, School of Engineering 
• Sean Corcoran, Director Graduate Studies, Community Research and Action, Peabody College 
• Bob Hodapp, Director Graduate Studies, Special Education, Peabody College 
• Jin Chen, Director Graduate Studies, Cancer Biology, School of Medicine Basic Sciences 
• Richard O-Brien, Director Graduate Studies, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine Basic Sciences 
• Christine Konradi, Director Graduate Studies, Pharmacology, School of Medicine Basic Sciences 

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Want to Offer Feedback?

To offer feedback on the Enhanced Funding and Support Model for Doctoral Education, please email  [email protected].  

What is Happening to U.S. Higher Education?

By Olivia Robertson

Recent technological advancements and new players have shaken up various industries, like entertainment and transportation. Now, these same changes are affecting higher education in America. New research out of Vanderbilt Business uses Layton’s marketing systems theory to understand the disruptions of the academic system. 

“ United States Education Structure is Under Stress: Exploring the Destabilization of Academia’s System Settings ” emphasizes that while education leaders don’t directly control these changes, their decisions can impact the outcomes and structure of the U.S. higher education system. Co-authored by Jen Riley , Morgan M. Bryant , Kate Nicewicz-Scott , Amy Watson , and Tiffanie Turner-Henderson , the study aims to analyze how the U.S. higher education system deals with these disruptions. The authors discuss 3 primary power shifts influencing how education is marketed and provide a reference for academic leaders to make decisions and take action in response to these changes.

“Our work critically examines these shifts by intertwining historical perspectives with the demands of today’s evolving landscape, emphasizing the need for transformative change within higher education,” says Riley. 

What is Layton’s theory of marketing systems?

Layton’s theory of marketing systems is a framework that looks at how changes in power, technology, or societal values act as catalysts, sparking a series of events in a system. This system involves the exchange of goods, services, or ideas. Once a catalyst occurs, opportunities and threats arise, and people or institutions respond based on self-interest, mutuality, and morality. The outcome is a transformation of the marketing system, affecting offerings and how it contributes to the community’s well-being. Layton emphasizes adapting to these changes to remain relevant and influential.

The authors discuss how the American Industrial Revolution was the “technological shock” that led to the transformation of higher education into what it is today. At the turn of the 20th century, many prominent American universities were established, focusing on applying science to industry needs. Now, higher education faces another revolution marked by technological, economic, and cultural changes. These shifts question the value of the exchange between society and U.S. higher education, leading to power shifts in various aspects. This tension pushes for a change in the types of educational offerings, causing traditional institutions and degrees to lose perceived and actual value. 

“To remain relevant, higher education must evolve and adjust program offerings to fit current market needs,” says Riley. “Failure to evolve may lead to declining relevance and influence as society seeks greater value elsewhere.”

What are the governance and political influences on higher education in the United States?

Recent scandals like the ‘ Varsity Blues ‘ and partisan politics have eroded trust in college leadership with increased political influence over universities. This influence is exemplified by instances like former Senator Ben Sasse becoming president of the University of Florida amid protests. Political appointments in university boards have risen, and students’ contributions to university budgets have doubled in the past 40 years. Yet, despite reduced allocations, states maintain significant influence. Recent legislative actions target tenure , DEI initiatives , and expenditures. Supreme Court rulings have favored conservative positions, impacting affirmative action and race-conscious admissions, prompting calls to end similar programs at institutions.

Does accreditation matter in the U.S. higher education system?

Accreditation signals quality and legitimacy, particularly the AACSB designation for business schools. Maintaining this accreditation focuses heavily on faculty research, creating a disconnect with student-centric objectives. While being a great researcher doesn’t necessarily correlate with practical teaching, there is value in the research-teaching nexus, especially in experiential learning. However, institutional emphasis on research poses challenges. Public distrust in scientists has increased , impacting the perceived value of inflated tuition funding scientific research, and critics argue that research doesn’t necessarily benefit student learning, especially when faculty are juggling teaching priorities for paying students with expectations for research productivity. 

“The current structure creates a tension between resource allocation and student success,” the authors write. “Considering the looming threat of a decline in prospective students due to a shrinking population, it is crucial to prioritize student outcomes and retention.”

How does macromarketing impact the desire for higher education in the United States?

Prior research indicates one macromarketing (big-picture, economic, and societal) effect of a successful higher education marketing system is the evidence of community quality improvement. However, Americans have lost confidence in the economic benefit of higher education, questioning its payoff, affordability, and access . Recent studies indicate a declining enthusiasm for college among Gen Z, with 50% believing a college degree is unnecessary. With the national birth rate decline since the 1960s posing challenges, there aren’t enough young workers to replace retiring Baby Boomers, threatening the historically counter-cyclical nature of the economy and demand for education. And, despite a growing need for skilled workers, many Americans feel that colleges and universities are not adequately preparing graduates for the workforce.

How has competition, especially technological, affected U.S. higher education?

Google, a key player in digital marketing , introduced Career Certificates as an affordable alternative to traditional degrees, making education more widely accessible. Google partnered with universities, shifting classroom responsibilities to external entities. By collaborating with universities, Google is a curriculum provider that bridges the gap between professors’ expertise and current industry practices. This partnership shifts traditional classroom responsibilities from professors to external, for-profit entities. Google’s approach, outlined in the company’s marketing materials, encourages faculty to provide “wraparound support” to a curriculum they did not participate in creating or delivering. Similar models are adopted by other companies like Ziplines Education, formerly GreenFig , which partners with prestigious institutions to support or replace traditional education.

Guild Education , a for-profit company, brokers employer-sponsored education benefits, directing millions of adult learners to selected programs. Industry leaders like Bloomberg and Salesforce offer branded certificates, emphasizing skills over degrees. Guild Education’s influence as a power player in education is significant, directing millions of credit hours. Despite its limited partnership with less than 1% of 4-year degree-granting institutions, it manages tens of millions of credit hours, establishing itself as a significant educational power player. Its focus on employer-sponsored adult learners positions Guild Education as a disruptive force. In turn, many companies, including Google, no longer require degrees for all hiring, focusing on skills and experience, further emphasizing the significance of Guild Education and similar opportunities.

The shift toward skills-based hiring and technology implementation in education is reshaping the value and demands of higher education. In addition to the presentation of one’s skills via certificate becoming more prominent and desirable, the pandemic accelerated the shift to online learning, emphasizing the need for educators to adapt to modern tools and experiential teaching methods. Additionally, COVID-19, leading to the switch to online learning, strengthened theories that traditional classroom learning environments were no longer sufficient, leading universities to show how they can provide value to in-person students, especially given the high price tag of higher education. 

Conclusion: How do Layton’s model and industry shifts affect higher education?

The described changes place a significant responsibility on academia to make informed and strategic choices to stay relevant. Layton’s model emphasizes the need for adaptation, showcasing the unidirectional nature of the system setting arrow. Implementing simulations and modern technology may divide instructors, requiring a critical examination of traditional market system structures. Proposing innovative models that optimize self-interest, mutuality, and morality could make traditional institutions more adaptable. The suggestion of collaboration between professors and industry leaders could bridge the knowledge gap and decrease university overhead. 

“ This manuscript underscores the urgency for academia to evolve and address current challenges in a meaningful way,” says Riley.

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Some Colleges Will Soon Charge $100,000 a Year. How Did This Happen?

Some Vanderbilt students will have $100,000 in total expenses for the 2024-25 school year. The school doesn’t really want to talk about it.

By Ron Lieber

Reporting from Vanderbilt University in Nashville

It was only a matter of time before a college would have the nerve to quote its cost of attendance at nearly $100,000 a year. This spring, we’re catching our first glimpse of it.

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One letter to a newly admitted Vanderbilt University engineering student showed an all-in price — room, board, personal expenses, a high-octane laptop — of $98,426. A student making three trips home to Los Angeles or London from the Nashville campus during the year could hit six figures.

This eye-popping sum is an anomaly. Only a tiny fraction of college-going students will pay anything close to this anytime soon, and about 35 percent of Vanderbilt students — those who get neither need-based nor merit aid — pay the full list price.

But a few dozen other colleges and universities that reject the vast majority of applicants will probably arrive at this threshold within a few years. Their willingness to cross it raises two questions for anyone shopping for college: How did this happen, and can it possibly be worth it?

Who Pays What

According to the College Board, the average 2023-24 list price for tuition, fees, housing and food was $56,190 at private, nonprofit four-year schools. At four-year public colleges, in-state students saw an average $24,030 sticker price.

That’s not what many people pay, though, not even close. As of the 2019-20 school year, according to federal data that the College Board used in a 2023 report , 39 percent of in-state students attending two-year colleges full time received enough grant aid to cover all of their tuition and fees (though not their living expenses, which can make getting through school enormously difficult). At four-year public schools, 31 percent paid nothing for tuition and fees while 18 percent of students at private colleges and universities qualified for the same deal.

Those private colleges continue to provide hefty discounts for people of all sorts of incomes. A National Association of College and University Business Officers study showed private nonprofit colleges and universities lowering their tuition prices by 56 percent from the rack rate during the 2022-23 school year.

Vanderbilt provides discounts, too, and its financial aid is extraordinarily generous. This year, it announced that families with income of $150,000 or less would pay no tuition in most instances .

Still, over 2,000 students there who get no need-based or merit aid will soon pay $100,000 or more. Why does Vanderbilt need all of that money?

Where the Money Goes

At a few small liberal arts colleges with enormous endowments, even $100,000 would not cover the average cost of educating a student, according to the schools. Williams College says it spends roughly $50,000 more per student than its list price, for instance.

In other words, everyone is getting a subsidy. Perhaps its list price should be over $100,000, too, so that its endowment is not offering unneeded help to wealthy families. Or, perhaps, a price that high would scare away low-income applicants who do not realize that they might get a free ride there.

According to Vanderbilt, its spending per undergraduate is $119,000. “The gap between the price and cost of attendance is funded by our endowment and the generous philanthropy of donors and alumni,” Brett Sweet, vice chancellor for finance, said in an emailed statement.

No one at the school would meet with me to break this figure down or get on the phone to talk about it. But Vanderbilt’s financial statements offer clues to how it spends money. In the 2023 fiscal year, 52 percent of its operating expenses went to faculty, staff and student salaries and wages, plus fringe benefits.

Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman, two academics who wrote “ Why Does College Cost So Much? ,” explained in their book why labor costs were so tricky at these institutions.

“The critical factors are that higher education is a personal service, that it has not experienced much labor-saving productivity growth, and that the wages of the highly educated workers so important at colleges and universities have soared,” they said. “These are economywide factors. They have little to do with any pathology in higher education.”

Critics of the industry still believe that a kind of administrative bloat has set in, driving up tuition with outsize salaries. But what is bloat, really?

Administrators oversee compliance, like the laws that have made it possible for disabled people to get to and through college and keep schools from discriminating against women. If we don’t like regulation, we can vote for different legislators.

Similarly, families in a free market can make alternative choices if they want fewer mental health practitioners and their bosses, computer network administrators, academic advisers or career counselors. And yet the first (prescreened) question that Vanderbilt’s chancellor, Daniel Diermeier, answered on family weekend this past fall was about whether Vanderbilt should invest even more in career advising in the wake of the school’s five-spot decline in the annual U.S. News rankings .

Is It Worth It?

If many families are not exactly lining up for a cut-rate residential undergraduate education, they’re still asking plenty of good questions about value. So is a $400,000 college education ever worth it?

It depends, and you knew that answer was coming, right?

Most college shoppers wonder about income outcomes, and it’s possible to search by undergraduate major on the federal government’s College Scorecard website . This program-level data exists for alumni who are four years out from graduation, though only for those who received any federal financial aid.

Vanderbilt’s biomedical/medical engineering majors have median earnings of $94,340 four years out. English language and literature majors are earning $53,767.

Those are fine results, but are they exclusive to Vanderbilt? “You could get an engineering degree at a state flagship university that’s just as valuable as something you’d get at Vanderbilt,” said Julian Treves , a financial adviser and college specialist whose newsletter tipped me off to the goings-on there.

I spent a few days trying to get Vanderbilt’s vice provost for university enrollment affairs, Douglas L. Christiansen , to talk to me and answer these questions squarely and more expansively, but I did not succeed. A university spokeswoman sent me some generalities in his name. “We are committed to excellence at all levels, from the quality of our faculty, programming, facilities and research labs to the services we provide to support the academic, emotional and social well-being of our students,” went the statement.

In anticipation of the absence of a substantive reply, I attended a group information session for 125 or so prospective students and asked there, too. The senior admissions officer who took the question refused to answer. I’d never seen that before, and I’ve been to these sessions at dozens of schools over the years.

But really, why should an actor in a competitive marketplace answer that question if the person doesn’t absolutely have to? Without publicly available, industrywide quantitative data on quality — happiness scores, customer satisfaction, measures of learning, return on friendship, the strength of career networks — the list price alone serves as a signal of excellence, to some shoppers at least.

And thousands of applicants respond to the signal each year by volunteering to pay the list price, even as the school rejects the vast majority of applicants. Or maybe they volunteer precisely because Vanderbilt and schools like it reject the vast majority of applicants.

So a $100,000 list price is not our highest-priority outrage. The spectacle of wealthy people freely purchasing luxury services is nothing new, even if it is a totally worthy object of scrutiny (and an understudied phenomenon by academics themselves, ahem).

What is a problem, then? Brent Joseph Evans , an associate professor of public policy and higher education at Vanderbilt’s college of education and human development, started his career as an admissions officer at the University of Virginia. There, he sold the institution to boarding school students in New England and teenagers in the Appalachian foothills.

The former group might pay $100,000 per year, though many of them won’t get into the Vanderbilts of the world in the first place. They will surely find their way somewhere.

But that latter group? Professor Evans is worried about their access to any school at all.

“We should care about whether they get into a state university system at a low cost and find a well-paying career that can keep them in the middle class,” he said. “I do think that sometimes any tension over what elite colleges are doing moves us away from what we should be caring about as a society.”

Read by Ron Lieber

Audio produced by Parin Behrooz .

An earlier version of this article misstated the surname of Vanderbilt’s vice provost for university enrollment affairs. He is Douglas L. Christiansen, not Christensen.

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Ron Lieber has been the Your Money columnist since 2008 and has written five books, most recently “The Price You Pay for College.” More about Ron Lieber

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Vanderbilt will soon cost $100,000 a year for some students. How did we get here?

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You may have to shield your eyes. No, we’re not talking about Monday’s solar eclipse , though please do wear the appropriate glasses . We’re talking about the costs of college tuition in this country, which are — frankly — eye-popping.

And a particularly eye-popping figure is coming out of Nashville, Tennessee. Starting this fall, Vanderbilt University will have a sticker price of nearly $100,000 for some students.

Ron Lieber is the Your Money columnist for the New York Times. He’s also author of the book “The Price You Pay for College” and put together an online course to teach parents and students about the process of getting merit-based aid. (It costs money, but less than $100,000.)

Lieber recently wrote about Vanderbilt’s tuition costs . He joined “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio to discuss his reporting and what it says about college affordability more broadly.

David Brancaccio: $98,426 at Vanderbilt. That included getting a powerful laptop computer that an incoming engineering undergrad might need. But you saw the calculation for an actual student?

Ron Lieber: I did indeed. These award letters go out every spring with the office of admission, and I have seen the numbers.

Brancaccio: All right, one school. But I mean, I want to point out that the average official price of private college is $56,190 at a private place and $24,000 at a public campus. I mean, you’ve written about this. Many people do not pay that.

Lieber: This is true. There are all sorts of discounts that go on. And then there’s this whole crazy category of merit aid that may depend on your grades or your extracurriculars or all sorts of other things, depending on the school’s institutional priorities in any given year — or any given month even, if they’re desperate to get heads in beds.

Brancaccio: Now, you point the following out in your piece: I mean, wealthy families paying a lot for high-end services. I mean, that’s what wealthy families can do, but you think the bigger problem lies elsewhere?

Lieber: Yeah, I mean, we’re on a program called “Marketplace [Morning Report]” here, right? And whatever your issues are with the higher education system — and there are many issues — there is a lot of consumer choice, and nobody has to pay a $100,000 rack rate. So a far bigger issue that we have here in America is just affordability generally.

Brancaccio: They [Vanderbilt] have many students who don’t pay that full rate, and there’s a new pledge over there , right? Families who make $150,000 or less would pay no tuition. I mean, they still have the laptops and room and board and travel. We should point that out for fairness.

Lieber: Oh, absolutely. Vanderbilt’s need-based financial aid system and the rules around it and the eligibility is among the most generous in all of the land. But the problem they face is that that list price is still the list price, and $98,000 and change before travel cost is a much easier thing to understand then, “No, no, no, no. This price isn’t real. Your price is going to be something much lower, but you’ve got to give us a bunch of financial information and wait a whole bunch of time.” And it sounds like a 30-second commercial for carpet cleaning, right?

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In a study supported by a five-year, $2.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Luis Leyva , associate professor of mathematics education and STEM higher education at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development , has made critical progress in research on racial equity for undergraduate Latin* students as mathematics learners and aspiring STEM majors. (Note: The term Latin* responds to (mis)use of Latinx as a gender-neutral term originally intended for explicit inclusion among gender nonconforming peoples of Latin American origin and descent. The asterisk in Latin∗ considers fluidity in gender identities across the Latin American diaspora.)

Leyva directs the P ower, R esistance & I dentity in S TE M Education (PRISM) Research Lab at Vanderbilt, which houses various research projects that build theory and inform practice about equitable educational opportunities in undergraduate STEM with specific attention to issues of intersectionality. Several projects focus on exploring racial and intersectional justice for undergraduate Latin* students as learners in mathematics classrooms and as aspiring STEM majors.

The most recent project is Transformative Inclusion in Postsecondary STEM (TIPS): Towards Justice . Now in its third year, TIPS examines educational practices across STEM departments at colleges and universities with a federal designation as Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). The project is a collaboration between Vanderbilt and Sonoma State University, an institution that recently received the HSI designation. Leyva serves as a co-principal investigator and directs educational research activities in TIPS.

Leyva and his team are engaged in a research-practice partnership with faculty in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Sonoma State. The partnership’s goals are to characterize and develop practices that enhance racial equity to better serve undergraduate Latin* students. The TIPS research has focused on practices of classroom instruction and student support, specifically in courses that are gateways to mathematics and other STEM majors (e.g., calculus, introduction to proofs).

Latin* students in gateway mathematics courses at Sonoma State and the faculty who teach the courses are participants in the TIPS research study. Leyva and his team have collected various types of data about participants’ perspectives and experiences regarding what it means for Latin* students to be served as mathematics learners at HSIs. These data include interviews, classroom observations, and journaling. Using an intersectional lens, the team seeks to understand how race, gender, and other dimensions of social identity shape differences in how Latin* students experience supportive practices in mathematics.

Leyva has disseminated insights from preliminary analyses of TIPS research data at national conferences and invited lectures across the country. Notably, Leyva has published three conference proceeding papers . He also delivered presentations at the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the James L. Curtis Institute for Race & Belonging at Albion College, where he was the Hispanic Heritage Month speaker for the college’s “Dimensions of Diversity” Lecture Series in 2023. Leyva was featured on an episode of the ¿ Qué Pasa, HSIs? podcast , which highlights educational research, practices, and policies for the advancement of racial equity at HSIs. The TIPS research team has also shared project analyses during the Department of Mathematics & Statistics’ colloquium series at Sonoma State.

Findings from the TIPS project’s single-institution case study in gateway mathematics courses at Sonoma State will guide next steps in the research process. Leyva and his team plan to examine the role that practices of racial equity played in Latin* students’ persistence as STEM majors. The team will also examine variation in the development of these equitable practices across different STEM departments with unique disciplinary cultures as well as different types of HSIs (e.g., two-year colleges, research-intensive universities). These contributions aim to enhance HSIs’ institutional missions of providing culturally-responsive learning opportunities, particularly through the robust transformation of organizational and pedagogical practices for the advancement of racial equity and intersectional justice in STEM departments.

“I am excited about next steps in our collaborative work through the TIPS project and future research that promotes justice in undergraduate STEM across intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and other minoritized social differences,” Leyva said.

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Vanderbilt University claims a commitment to free speech. But does it deliver?

A string of student demonstrations on Vanderbilt University’s campus over the past two weeks has caused a rift at the private university, with student and faculty concerns over their free speech rights at odds with university administration.

In late March, nearly fifty students descended on Kirkland Hall, the towering administration building in heart of Vanderbilt's campus, for a sit-in of Chancellor Daniel Deirmeier's office. The students were protesting the removal of a proposed amendment from a student ballot, which if approved would have prevented student government funds from going to certain businesses that support Israel.

Four students were arrested, with three of those expelled. Others who protested inside the building were either suspended or placed on disciplinary probation.

The university said that while it is committed to “free expression” and “civil discourse,” the students’ actions violated university policy and were “not peaceful,” citing the moment students pushed their way past a university employee to get into the administration building.

Vanderbilt University houses a First Amendment Center and the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, in addition to a collaboration started last year with the global judicial think tank Justitia to create the Future of Free Speech project.

But the conflict — and the arrest of a reporter covering the protests — has been a blow to the public perception of the university as a place dedicated to free expression and free speech. A number of alumni and students, for instance, have expressed confusion over what they’re allowed to express on a campus.

Free speech concerns are a 'red herring,' says chancellor

In an interview with The Tennessean last week, Diermeier emphasized that free speech is “alive and well” on campus, and that calling concerns over the student demonstrations a “free-speech issue” was a “red herring.”

“I think the whole free speech angle is a total red herring,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the issues. We have plenty of opportunities for our students to engage with free speech without breaking fundamental university rules. So this was something else, and I'm not quite sure what they're trying to do. There was an attempt to occupy something — I don't know, maybe they have to explain what they were doing. That's their business. But from our point of view, our free speech, just like I said, is still alive and well.”

He said the decision to remove the student referendum — and the response to the subsequent demonstrations — could not count as a free speech issue because the university was abiding by state law.

“The funds that (student government) uses are university funds, not their money," he said. "So student government is subject to the Tennessee law, which prohibits boycott activities … We will not take that risk."

Diermeier said the response from the university supports the school’s dedication to “institutional neutrality,” and was fully in line with the school’s values.

“Crises often are opportunities to clarify to the world and to yourself what your values are,” he said. “Our response fit into that context — everything that we did there we believe was consistent with our purpose and our values.”

According to Vanderbilt policy, while demonstrations are allowed — along with media presence to cover the event — the private campus does, as a matter of policy, "define time, place and manner of limitations” for protests, and recently stated that it requires pre-approved clearance from administration for journalists to come on campus.

When asked if this media policy has ever been publicly accessible, Vanderbilt spokespeople confirmed that the policy "does not live online," as their practice has been to "share it with members of the media directly either by request or as needed."

University responses to demonstrations have not been consistent throughout Vanderbilt’s history. In 2015, a student group called the Hidden Dores held a similar protest, marching into Kirkland and handing petitions directly into the former chancellor’s hands.

No students were arrested, suspended or removed, and no reporters detained. The petitions led to multiple changes on campus, including the removal of the word Confederate from the title of Memorial Hall.

When asked what changed in student free expression standards between then and now, Diermeier said he would “need to look at the details” of the incident.

But Diermeier said he is concerned about the arrest of a Nashville Scene reporter covering the protests in late March. He said that was undoubtedly a First Amendment issue.

“It bothers me,” he said. “I want to know whether the arrest was an overreaction, or whether it was justified based on the policy, and if that's the case, whether or not we want to change the policies.”

No charges were filed against the reporter, who was quickly released from police custody.

The arrest drew heavy pushback from the community, including from 20 Metro Council members who signed a letter addressing the issue and urging the university to embody the free speech principles for which it promotes.

The university announced on April 4 the hiring of an outside attorney to review the arrest of the reporter and the campus media access policy.

When asked if the university has any intention of not pursuing the criminal charges against the three students, Diermeier said the question was "something that we would think about holistically," and that administration was "not at that point."

Outside of the university, Diermeier said that the reaction to the university’s actions were overwhelmingly positive following his published opinion column in the conservative editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal earlier in the week . The column did not mention the reporter's arrest.

But he noted that the response from faculty and students included “some criticisms, some concerns,” and was overall a “mixed response.”

“We're working through them,” he said. “We're trying to explain to people why we did what we did, and this particular op-ed piece was one way to do that. And there's going to have to be a continued conversation.”

Regardless of response, he said, the goal of the university has remained: institutional neutrality above all.

“The commitment to institutional neutrality is absolutely critical,” he said. “If you are constantly engaged in trying to figure out what the university's response should be to this foreign policy crisis or the other, you're encouraging lobbying to try and get the university on your side.”

Faculty, alumni raise concerns of 'arbitrary, shifting, and unevenly applied' standards

The responses from university faculty have been growing, even before the demonstrations began. Just days before the sit-in at Kirkland Hall, 34 faculty members expressed their support of the student group in their quest to return the referendum to the ballot.

Following the sit-in, a group of faculty released a second statement — with the number of signers jumping to 160 and counting.

“Over the past two weeks, the administration has responded to student protest in excessive and punitive ways, unduly restricting when, where, and how students can express themselves,” the new statement read. “We recognize that as a private entity, Vanderbilt has the latitude to set its own policies about free expression. But we are concerned that these rules seem arbitrary, shifting, and unevenly applied to student activists and other community members.”

The faculty statement urged the administration to “align its policies with its values regarding free speech, expression, and democratic activities, including protest.”

Carwil Bjork-James, a Vanderbilt University assistant professor of social movements, indigenous rights and political anthropology, signed the statement and said the move from Vanderbilt to remove the student vote was part of an ongoing pattern at the university.

“I think there is a larger pattern that it has been challenging for people on other issues — people working on divestment, addressing for-profit prison companies, etc. — to fully get their foot in the door or be given normal permission to protest on campus,” he said. “And there's been a tightening of those standards, ironically under the banner of free speech.”

The disconnect between the university’s public dedication to free speech policies and inward confusion of allowable expression is something noted by many Vanderbilt alumni who spoke out after the demonstrations.

Shawn Reilly, a Vanderbilt graduate who received both their undergraduate and two masters degrees from the university, was an active member of multiple social justice groups on campus, as well as an organizer of a similar sit-in at Kirkland Hall with a very different reception in 2016.

“I helped organize some actions at Vanderbilt regarding naming the campus a ‘sanctuary campus’ in 2016, when Trump had announced a registration for Muslim folks and potentially deporting undocumented folks,” Reilly said. “So we were able to do a sit-in at Kirkland. It lasted quite a few hours, with the demand that administration vote would agree to be a ‘sanctuary campus.’"

According to Reilly, students involved in that sit-in were treated very differently. They were allowed to have food delivered into the building and were allowed to use the restrooms — two things that students at the most recent demonstration were not allowed to do.

“There was not a hostile situation,” they said. “It couldn't be a more different story than what we saw happened at Vanderbilt last week.”

Reilly said the “free speech brand” that Vanderbilt has been promoting over the past few years doesn’t seem to align with the lived experiences of people trying to exercise those rights.

“We definitely felt that student protesters had more rights and support on campus previously than what I've seen in the last week," they said. "Especially given that our current chancellor is really trying to build this whole brand and carve the school out as a bastion of free expression.”

Expert: Vanderbilt responded fairly — but for the wrong reasons

Zach Greenberg, senior program officer of student organizations and campus rights advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the situation at Vanderbilt was a “complex” one, where the university stands both in the right and wrong.

“Private universities are not bound by the First Amendment,” Greenberg said. “Public schools are of course legally required to uphold student’s free speech rights. Private universities, however, are only bound by the policies they make for their students in their official handbooks, though most private universities offer rights consistent with the First Amendment.”

More: These Tennessee universities made the top 100 for free speech rights, advocacy group finds

Based on this, Greenberg said that the school’s response to the demonstrators was correct—but based on bad reasoning.

“We’re still investigating the situation,” he said. “But to our understanding right now, Vanderbilt did the right thing. They punished students who were disrupting campus, who were violating content-neutral place-and-time restrictions—which are permissible under First Amendment restrictions—and they were doing so to preserve the safety of their campus.”

The reasoning for the demonstrations and their subsequent fallout are another story, however.

“The student referendum issue is a different case,” he said. “Based on what we’ve seen with that, we feel that it was cancelled out of the university’s misinterpretation of state and federal law regarding boycotting institutions. The expression of the student amendment is protected free speech, and the university’s rationale for cancelling it does not hold water for many reasons.”

Primarily, Greenberg said, Vanderbilt is a private university. So the very reasons it could restrict student speech are the very reasons the boycott laws do not apply to the private school’s speech.

“The state and federal laws about boycotting Israel do not apply to them or the student government,” Greenberg said. “We’ve researched the laws in this case, and we do not see how it applies in this scenario, and we plan on alerting the general counsel’s office and administration of this misinterpretation to ensure that they do not censor more speech.”

Greenberg said the situation at Vanderbilt is highly unsurprising—and likely to repeat again.

“These free speech issues are pretty common right now,” he said. “Schools across the country are dealing with issues on the Israel/Hamas war. It’s really a trying time for universities in upholding free speech, and we applaud Vanderbilt for trying to work with us to improve their climate, but there’s still a long way to go.

“Universities can have the best policies ever, but they need to be applied peacefully and fairly.”

The USA Today Network - Tennessee's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.

Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at [email protected], by phone at 931-623-9485, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham

Vanderbilt University chancellor: Why we want to build a graduate campus in West Palm Beach

The vanderbilt campus would be built on 7 acres of government-owned land formerly slated for a university of florida graduate campus..

Vanderbilt University wants to open a campus in downtown West Palm Beach that would feature a business school as large as its existing one in Nashville, plus a college for computer science and artificial intelligence, Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier told The Palm Beach Post.

"We have been thinking for a while about a potential second campus, and it became clear that South Florida, and West Palm Beach and Palm Beach, would be a great location," Diermeier said in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

The campus would be built on seven acres of government-owned land formerly slated for a University of Florida graduate campus.

Diermeier's comments followed his April 1 visit to Palm Beach County , where he met with several government officials to drum up support for the Vanderbilt campus in West Palm Beach.

During the evening of April 1, Diermeier attended a fundraiser at the Palm Beach home of billionaire Stephen Ross. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also attended the gathering, according to the governor's public schedule.

The Palm Beach event raised $100 million out of the $300 million sought by the university for the expanded campus, the sources said. Diermeier would not comment on the fundraising details.

But Diermeier was eager to talk about why Vanderbilt wants a campus in two of the nation's fastest-growing cities, Nashville and West Palm Beach.

University campus expected to capitalize on Wall Street South

A West Palm Beach campus would capitalize on Palm Beach County's growing reputation as Wall Street South and provide students jobs in finance companies. A Vanderbilt campus also would "turbocharge" the creation of new businesses established by students, creating an innovation industry, Diermeier said.

Diermeier lauded the sophistication of Palm Beach's residents, whose business and financial acumen, as well as their deep pockets, could invest in and guide companies created by graduates of the business and computer schools. Having a university of Vanderbilt's caliber is needed "to unlock the full potential of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County," Diermeier said.

The Vanderbilt West Palm Beach campus would provide graduate degrees geared to the finance, data and technology industries and enroll roughly 1,000 students, he said.

The Vanderbilt campus is being pitched for two acres owned by the City of West Palm Beach and five adjacent acres owned by Palm Beach County. The properties are along South Tamarind Avenue, from Datura Street south to Fern Street, in a section of the city dubbed Government Hill.

The land is the same property that both the county and the city had planned to donate for free to UF for a graduate campus in business and artificial intelligence.

But the deal fell apart last year after efforts to secure an adjacent five acres from Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene failed. The Vanderbilt campus would not need the Greene land.

Diermeier said he was aware of the former UF campus plan, and he was approached by someone about the downtown land during a Vanderbilt football game.

Vanderbilt's top ranking and its strong alumni network

While not an Ivy League school, Vanderbilt is known as a “Southern Ivy” because of its selective admissions process and strong academic reputation.

Vanderbilt is ranked No. 18 among national universities, and its business school, the Owen School of Management, is No. 27 in the nation in a three-way tie with the University of Texas-Dallas and the University of Rochester, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Current enrollment at Vanderbilt's business school is 617 students, a university spokesman said. The business school has 97 faculty members, and the annual cost of attendance is about $103,000.

Vanderbilt boasts a $10 billion endowment and counts many wealthy alumni and business leaders among its supporters.

These supporters include Vanderbilt trustee Jon Winklereid, a Hobe Sound resident and chief executive of TPG Holdings/TPG Capital LP, an asset management firm with a market value of $16 billion.

There's also Cody Crowell, a Vanderbilt University graduate, a managing partner at Frisbie Group in Palm Beach and a key figure in the Vanderbilt deal. During a recent talk before a Palm Beach chamber meeting, Crowell was credited with coming up with the idea of bringing Vanderbilt to West Palm Beach.

Vanderbilt has more than 1,100 alumni in Palm Beach County and in the northern part of neighboring Broward County, according to the university.

The West Palm Beach campus plan, in the works for about a year, is being advanced by Ross'  Related Cos. , a global real estate developer, and the  Frisbie Group . Both companies are building offices, condominiums and apartments in  West Palm Beach.

In a March interview, Related Urban Chief Executive Ken Himmel said having a Vanderbilt University business school campus in West Palm Beach would transform the city into a major destination.

"Every single city we've worked in has been anchored by a great university," Himmel said.

How would Vanderbilt get control of the taxpayer-owned land?

Diermeier said Vanderbilt would only build a sizable West Palm Beach campus if it received support from the business community — and government officials. He said that Vanderbilt officials have not discussed receiving state money for the venture, "although we would welcome that."

Diermeier said he met with some but not all county commissioners on April 1. He said there was interest in the campus plan, which he said is still in the early stages. He added there were discussions about the government-owned land and how the university could "have access to it."

Diermeier said Vanderbilt did not ask for anything at this point. But he was vague when asked if Vanderbilt would be willing to pay for the seven acres of taxpayer-owned land.

Vanderbilt would only open a West Palm Beach campus "if the community wants us," Diermeier said. "One way to demonstrate that is by co-investing. We 100% need that … This is a marriage that has to work for us."

People familiar with the Vanderbilt campus plan say its backers want the city and county to donate the land for free. Private money raised for the venture would go toward the university's endowment, which generates income that finances the university's programs.

But not every business leader is on board with handing over taxpayer land, especially to a university with a $10 billion endowment.

More: Is University of Florida's grad school campus in West Palm Beach in peril?

Some business officials, who asked not to be named, said any effort to attract an out-of-state private university using public land should be done via a public request for proposals, not a behind-the-scenes deal with one institution.

Two county commission members said the meeting with Diermeier was introductory and didn't get into specifics.

"I’m very proud that a prestigious university like Vanderbilt is considering building a graduate school in Palm Beach County. This was really a just-get-to-know-me meeting," said Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs.

"This was all very preliminary," Commissioner Gregg Weiss said. "It's getting to know what Vanderbilt is about. There is a real workforce need for the business school graduates that would be attending this school. The details still need to be worked out, but it is a step in the right direction."

Palm Beach County's uneven record on public land donations

Ambitious ventures involving free taxpayer land have a mixed record in Palm Beach County.

To lure California-based Scripps Research Institute to Jupiter in 2006, $580 million in state and county money went to Scripps to create its Florida campus.

In addition, 70 acres in public and private land was leased to Scripps after Scripps officials promised that a "biotech village" of companies and jobs would be built on the vacant Palm Beach Gardens property. The land is next to the Alton community on Donald Ross Road.

The land was to be conveyed to Scripps after a 15-year contract between the county and Scripps was up. While the county staff said Scripps met the contract requirement to create 545 jobs and operate in the county for 15 years to be eligible for the land transfer, the biotech village never materialized .

Nevertheless, in 2022 the 70-acre parcel was transferred to Scripps for $1, as per the agreement with the county. UF Health now controls the land as part of its acquisition of Scripps Florida.

Meanwhile, the UF graduate school in downtown West Palm Beach didn't go as planned for Florida taxpayers, either.

The 12-acre campus, first announced in 2021, was supposed to offer graduate-level programs in business, engineering and law with a focus on financial technology, or fintech, and cybersecurity.

More: Much-touted UF campus plan for downtown West Palm Beach dies, leaving huge disappointment

In 2022, the Florida Legislature awarded UF $100 million for the West Palm Beach campus. But the legislation contained a giant loophole.

If the West Palm Beach campus didn't happen, the $100 million could stay with UF to use as it sees fit elsewhere in the state in a location outside Palm Beach County.

The campus didn't happen, and UF kept the money anyway.

Soon after the UF deal showed signs of dying, West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James said talks were afoot to bring a top, private, out-of-state university to the downtown land.

More Vanderbilt meetings planned with public officials

Diermeier said he plans to return to Palm Beach County during the next month to meet with more county commission members about the Vanderbilt campus.

He said Vanderbilt is skilled at having good relationships with state and local officials in Tennessee, and he expressed confidence that county and city government leaders in Palm Beach County would feel comfortable working with the university, too.

He also believes the more people learn about Vanderbilt's plans for the West Palm Beach campus, the more they will be supportive.

In addition to a doubling of Vanderbilt's business school size, the West Palm Beach campus also would feature degrees in the university's newest college, the College of Connected Computing.

This just-created interdisciplinary college would feature computer science, AI, data science and related fields. It also would collaborate with all of Vanderbilt’s schools and colleges.

Diermeier likened the potential effect of a Vanderbilt West Palm Beach campus to the effect that Stanford University had on Silicon Valley — and the resulting explosion of innovative technology companies that emanated from there.

"The impact that research universities can have on a community is very significant," Driemeier said.

Before becoming chancellor at Vanderbilt, Diermeier formerly was an assistant professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, then held key leadership positions at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

Staff writer Mike Diamond contributed to this report.

Alexandra Clough is a business writer and columnist at the  Palm Beach Post . You can reach her at  [email protected] . Twitter:  @acloughpbp .  Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

Center for Structural Biology

Chazin to lead biomedical research education and training.

Posted by daviskd2 on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 in News .

Congratulations to Walter Chazin , founder and former director of the Center of Structural Biology, on being named senior associate dean of BRET !

Walter takes over from Kathleen Gould, who steps down after 14 years of leading the BRET Office to return her focus to her research program.

Read the full announcement on the Basic Sciences website .

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