The first canon of rhetoric is discovery. This means that before communicating any idea to someone, we need to spend time researching, learning, and discovering. When preparing for a new debate topic, that means viewing our research as exploration, not shopping.

We need to learn what the major issues are in a resolution. Who are the main players? What are the biggest problems? What are the root causes of those problems? What are the solutions? Why aren’t they happening? Etc.

Once we have discovered the big picture, then and only then, should we start to arrange those thoughts into possible case ideas. The problem with debate research is that when we start out, we tend to focus on finding case ideas without diving deep into the topic and immersing ourselves. Immersion leads to knowledge.

So, in this post, I’m not going to outline 20 case ideas you can use. Instead, I’m going to outline 6-7 areas of interest that you should dive deep into and learn all about. If you want to get an in-depth view of this resolution look at our interview with Jenna Robinson, President of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. Go read Greg Rehmke’s articles on the resolution. Here, I’m not providing you with in-depth analysis. Rather, I’m going to keep updating this post with some of the biggest themes in higher education and post links to articles that we, as a staff, have been reading that have helped us gain knowledge on the subject.

Bookmark this page. I’ll continue to update it with more and more links. View it as a trampoline to jump into the new debate topic by going deeper into the resolution through exploring the links we add here.

Accreditation:

http://www.heritage.org/education/report/accreditation-removing-the-barrier-higher-education-reform

https://psmag.com/news/higher-educations-accreditation-problem

https://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/dickeson.pdf

Risk-Sharing:

• “A New Approach to College Accountability: Balancing Sanctions and Rewards to Improve Student Outcomes” by Lindsay Ahlman, Debbie Cochrane, and Jessica Thompson, The Institute for College Access and Success, or TICAS
• “Risk-sharing: An Efficient Mechanism for Funding Student Loan Safety Nets” by Beth Akers, Manhattan Institute and formerly of the Brookings Institution
• “Getting Risk-Sharing Right: Creating Better Incentives for Colleges and Universities” by Kristin Blagg and Matthew Chingos, Urban Institute
• “Designing and Assessing Risk-Sharing Models for Federal Student Aid” by Nicholas W. Hillman, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• “A Risk-Sharing Model to Align Incentives and Improve Student Performance” by Jorge Klor de Alva and Mark Schneider, Nexus Research and Policy Center
• “Sharing the Risk: A Plan for Colleges to Participate in the Costs of Student Loan Failure” by Ben Miller and CJ Libassi, Center for American Progress
• “A Flexible Risk Retention Model for Federal Student Loans” by Barmak Nassirian and Thomas L. Harnisch, American Association of State Colleges and Universities
• “Risk-Sharing and Student Loan Policy: Consequences for Students and Institutions” by Douglas A. Webber, Temple University

Pell Grants:

http://www.heritage.org/education/report/pell-grant-increase-would-not-solve-the-college-cost-problem

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/inside_higher_ed/2013/12/college_affordability_pell_grants_are_inadequate.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/what-happens-to-pell-grant-recipients-after-they-enroll/407311/

Community College:

https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/documents/community-colleges-reimagined.pdf

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/06/14/essay-challenges-community-college-students-face-transferring-earn-four-year

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/21/local/la-me-colleges-20120221

http://www.mdrc.org/publication/what-have-we-learned-about-learning-communities-community-collegesx`

For-Profit Colleges:

http://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Unheralded-Mettle-of/239948

http://www.npr.org/2017/03/27/521371034/how-for-profit-colleges-sell-risky-education-to-the-most-vulnerable

http://www.businessinsider.com/betsy-devos-is-rolling-back-2-rules-aimed-at-for-profit-colleges-2017-6

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/06/15/education-department-hit-pause-two-primary-obama-regulations-aimed-profits

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sabrinaschaeffer/2017/06/14/workforce-development-week-for-profit-colleges-are-a-real-solution-to-workforce-readiness/#594fe5d652af

Tenure:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/13/legislation-two-states-seeks-eliminate-tenure-public-higher-education

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay/2016/01/23/the-campus-protests-and-faculty-tenure-a-fatal-attraction/#6e11fcba78d1

https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/7/19/what-if-college-tenure-dies/why-tenure-is-unsustainable-and-indefensible

https://hbr.org/2013/03/its-time-for-tenure-to-lose-te

https://hbr.org/ideacast/2011/06/the-education-bubble-tenure-en?referral=03758&cm_vc=rr_item_page.top_right

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2010/08/finishing_school.html

https://www.nas.org/articles/Abolish_Tenure_But_Then_What

Free Speech:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/free-speech-campus/532965/

http://www.newsweek.com/free-speech-college-college-campuses-protests-college-protests-ann-coulter-631008

https://www.thefire.org/pdfs/free-speech.pdf

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/race-and-the-free-speech-diversion

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/campus-protest-roundup/417570/

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/can-we-take-political-correctness-seriously-now.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/429960/political-correctness-open-dialogue-college-campuses

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-intolerance-of-student-activism-at-yale/414810/

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/theres-no-college-p-c-crisis-in-defense-of-student-protesters-20151217

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/11/student_protesters_want_qualitative_diversity_on_campus.single.html