Kevin Kinser is a Professor of Education and Department Head, Education Policy Studies at Penn State College of Education. Prior to Penn State, he was an Associate Professor and Senior Researcher at the Institute for Global Education Policy Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He received two master's degrees and a doctorate from Columbia University's Teachers College and has taught in the higher education programs at Teachers College and Louisiana State University. As a researcher, Kinser studies non-traditional and alternative higher education, particularly the public policies and organizational structures related to for-profit institutions and international cross-border higher education. He is the author of more than 40 articles, chapters, and scholarly reports, and regularly presents papers at conferences in the United States and abroad. He is the co-editor (with James JF Forest) of Higher Education in the United States: An Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2002), a comprehensive two-volume overview of American postsecondary education since World War II, and the author of From Main Street to Wall Street: The Transformation of For-Profit Higher Education (Wiley, 2006). His most recent books are The Global Growth of Private Higher Education (Wiley, 2010) and Multinational Colleges and Universities: Leading, Governing, and Managing International Branch Campuses (Jossey-Bass, 2011).
Publications available on this website
Activities
Kinser, K. (2015). Quality of teaching in the context of increasing non-public providers of higher education: Background Paper. Prepared for the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of Recommendations Concerning Teaching Personnel. Paris: UNESCO. [Paper Available:http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---sector/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_364833.pdf]
Kinser, K. (2014, July). For-Profit Pathways into STEM. Prepared for the National Research Council’s and National Academy of Engineering’s Committee on Barriers and Opportunities to 2- and 4-year Undergraduate STEM Degrees. [Paper Available: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_088833.pdf]
Kinser, K. (2014). What We Know: Research About For-Profit Higher Education. Paper presented at Developing a Research Agenda: Tax Paying Colleges and Universities/For-Profit Higher Education. University of Southern California Pullias Center. [Paper available: http://www.uscrossier.org/pullias/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Developing-a-Research-Agenda-ALL.pdf]. Los Angeles, CA. April 29.
Kinser, K. (2013). Paying for For-Profit Higher Education: Implications of the United States Case. In Donald Heller and Claire Callender, Student Financing of Higher Education: A Comparative Perspective. (pp. 98-114). London: Routledge.
Kinser, K. (2013). The Quality-Profit Assumption. International Higher Education, 71, 12-13.
Lane, J.E. and Kinser, K. (2011). Reconsidering Privatization in Cross-Border Engagements: The Sometimes Public Nature of Private Activity. Higher Education Policy, 24. pp. 255-273. [winner of the 2010 International Association of Universities – Palgrave Prize in Higher Education Policy Research]
Kinser, K. (2011). Quality Assurance in Cross-Border Higher Education. In Lane, J.E. and Kinser, K., The Multi National University: Leadership, Administration, and Governance of International Branch Campuses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Lane, J.E. and Kinser, K. (2011). The Cross-Border Education Policy Context: Educational Hubs, Trade Liberalization, and National Sovereignty. In Lane, J.E. and Kinser, K., The Multi National University: Leadership, Administration, and Governance of International Branch Campuses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kinser, K. and Hill, B. (2011). Higher Education in Tumultuous Times—Facing Market Forces—Promoting the Common Good: A Transatlantic Dialogue. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
Kinser, K. (2010). A Global Perspective on For-Profit Higher Education. In Learning for Earning in a Globalized Society: For-profit Colleges and Universities as Schools and Businesses, William G. Tierney, Vicente M. Lechuga & Guilbert Hentschke, eds. pp. 145-170. Sterling, VA: Stylus Press.
Other Activities since 2010: Invited Presentations and Lectures
Kinser, K. (2012). Mapping the For-Profit Higher Education Landscape. Keynote address at conference on Access, Competition, and For-Profit Higher Education, Duke University, Durham, NC, September 21.
Kinser, K. (2012). Privatization in Tertiary Education: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Joint AERA-BERA symposium presented at the British Educational Research Association, Manchester, UK, September 5.
Kinser, K. (2012). Foreign Education Outposts: Models and Variations of International Branch Campuses. Paper presented at the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, June 2. Jeju, South Korea.
Kinser, K. et al. (2012). The Observatory's IBC report: Summary findings. Symposium Presented at the Observatory for Borderless Higher Education Global Forum. April 25. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kinser, K. et al. (2012). For-Profit U. Webinar sponsored by Service Employees International Union. February 2. Pittsburgh, PA and online.
Kinser, K. et al. (2011). Students at Risk: The Shifting Roles of Public Higher Education and For-Profit Colleges and Universities. Symposium presented at the Sloan Consortium International Conference on On-Line Learning. November 10. Orlando, FL.
Kinser, K. (2011). Access Contributions of F or-Profit Higher Education. Webinar for the 2011 Student Success Webinar Series, Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation. June 16. (online). [based off of PROPHE working paper]
Kinser, K. and Jason E. Lane (2011). Mobility of Programmes, Offâshore Campuses, Distance Education: Broadening access to international opportunities? Plenary session. International Association of Universities 4th Global Meeting. April 12. New Delhi, India.
Kinser, K. (2011) For-Profit Higher Education: Issues for Admissions Officers. Webinar for National Association for College Admission Counseling. January 25. (online).
Kinser, K. (2010). Current Issues and Future Prospects in For-Profit Higher Education. Syracuse University. November 9. Syracuse, NY.
Numerous media mentions during this period as well.
