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While academic capitalism pervades many facets of US higher education, this study analyzes paid adwords as a method of academic capitalism in the online marketplace. This article presents findings from a five-month quantitative analysis of paid adwords of the 2018 top "US News & World Report" top 100 national universities. Capturing the Fall 2017 application season, this study investigated how many, when, and what adwords institutions purchase and how cost efficient these adwords were by words-per-click and price-per-click. Data indicate private institutions buy more adwords and pay a greater amount than public institutions but do not generate more traffic from these adwords. Regression analyses find better-ranked institutions generate more traffic from adwords than lower-ranked peers, but similar analyses predicting adwords and cost were not statistically significant. These findings suggest a stratified Internet marketplace, with better-ranked institutions practicing academic capitalism to drive web traffic toward their websites during application season.

University ranking systems influence a wide range of educational stakeholders, including students, faculty members, and campus administrators. Of these ranking systems, the "U.S. News & World Report" ranking of colleges and universities has been the subject of much research. However, little research has examined specific "U.S. News" disciplinary rankings (such as graduate education) and whether Internet characteristics--such as the popularity of an institutional website--contributes to such a ranking. This study examines relationships between Internet characteristics, institutional characteristics, and the ranking of 69 of the top graduate education programs per "U.S. News & World Report" 2018 rankings. This examination sought to understand which "U.S. News" criteria best predicts ranking and whether Internet and institutional characteristics are better predictors of ranking. Regarding "U.S. News" ranking criteria, results suggest peer assessment best predicts graduate education program ranking. Regarding Internet and institutional characteristics, results suggest institutions with larger endowments (p = 0.01) and smaller websites (p = 0.05) enjoy better rankings. Considering all "U.S. News" criteria alongside Internet and institutional characteristics, doctoral admission rates (t = 3.30, p = 0.00) and funded research per faculty member (t = - 4.89, p = 0.00) best predict ranking, but the size (t = 2.61, p = 0.01) and popularity (t = - 2.88, p = 0.00) of an institution's website also strongly predicts ranking. Implications for theory and future research are addressed.

As districts nationwide transitioned online to deliver remote or hybrid instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet has become an increasingly important space for K-12 students, teachers, and many other stakeholders. This brief discusses the utility of Internet metrics to measure K-12 district websites and its usefulness for exploring the digital nature of K-12 schools. We close this brief by discussing the necessity to explore K-12 Internet metrics, as the Internet has become an important data source for many diverse stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that all Title IV-participating institutions of higher education publish web accessible websites for students with disabilities. This study sought to evaluate the web accessibility of Hispanic-Serving Institutional (HSI) websites (n = 217). Results suggest that the average HSI website landing page included 447 errors, violating ADA. Most errors were related to font size, color contrast, and hyperlinks and pictures. Implications for research, practice, and support for Hispanic students with disabilities are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of international students attending U.S. higher education institutions has declined 2 consecutive years (Saul, 2018), several institutions are exploring ways to increase international student interest. In Texas, the sociopolitical climate has become increasingly anti-immigrant (Watkins, 2017), leading many international students to question whether study in the US is feasible and safe. As institutional websites have been found to be important sources of international student information (Huang & Bilal, 2017; Taylor & Bicak, 2018), this study examines international student information on all public, 4-year institution websites in Texas. Findings suggest international student materials are difficult to read, are rarely translated, and lack basic information such as cost and housing information. Implications for future research and practice are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 18, 2018, U.S. Congress amended Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to hold all Title IV U.S. institutions of higher education to Level AA compliance with web accessibility standards, also known as WCAG 2.0 standards. As a result, this study examined all 100 historically Black college and university (HBCU) websites and found 94 HBCU websites were in violation of ADA and were not web accessible for students with disabilities after the January 18th amendment of Section 508. Using two robust web accessibility software packages, each website was evaluated at both the Level A and Level AA threshold of ADA compliance. The average HBCU website included 62 WCAG errors, meaning the website was likely non-ADA compliant. Furthermore, a majority of errors were minor, as many pictures were missing alt text or a hyperlink was not defined. Implications for practice, research, and HBCU leadership will be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]