For college students and professors, the start of the new academic year is just a few weeks away. In New Jersey, tuition increases, spending on athletic programs and other issues will be on the agenda for our higher education community. These are among the topics addressed this week by the Hall Institute of Public Policy.

The Higher Education Solution — In our weekly podcast, the Hall Institute’s Michael P. Riccards, a former college president, discusses why tuition rates have risen and what we can do to control them. Play

It’s the Secrecy, Stupid! — Attorney Michael M. Shapiro comments on the perks provided to Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano and the need for greater transparency at the school. Read

State must seek innovative ways of reducing higher education costs — Hall Institute Trustee Robert P. Haney Jr. offers suggestions for controlling tuition rates in an op-ed published in the Star-Ledger this week. Read

On This Week’s Higher Education Press Conference — The Hall Institute’s Jarrett E. Chapin weighs in on the higher education issue, offering his thoughts on a press conference conducted this week by the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, as well as a forum that the organization sponsored earlier this year. Read

Visit the Hall Institute online at WWW.HALLNJ.ORG to read these articles and other topical material:

• Riccards on New Jersey 2008 — A blog on our state's expanded role in the 2008 presidential race.
• Rich Lee on Media — Musings on those who make the news and those who report it.
• A School Funding Scrapbook — Commentary on education issues and policy.
• Hall Institute Forum — Our public affairs television program.
• Hall Institute Radio Podcast Forum — Audio discussion of timely and topical public policy issues.
• White Papers
• Research Essays
• Op-Ed Articles
• Press Releases

The Hall Institute is a non-partisan, not-for-profit foundation established to explore social, economic, educational and cultural issues. Since its inception in 2005, the institute has posted more than 400 white papers, research essays and op-ed articles on its website at www.hallnj.org in an effort to generate debate and discussion and develop solutions to the problems confronting the state and its residents.

The institute has conducted several special events, including NJ2008, a series of public forums on the state’s role in the 2008 presidential campaign. In 2006, the institute presented an online Virtual Debate among the candidates in New Jersey's U.S. Senate race. At present, we are sponsoring a Similar Virtual Debate for the state's 2008 U.S. Senate election.

The organization produces public affairs television, podcasts and blogs, and also has published two books -- The State of the Garden State and Reaction and Reform in New Jersey. Both are compilations of the major papers posted on its website. A third volume, Creating A Common Future: New Jersey and Public Policy, is posted on the Hall Institute website.

Earlier this year, the institute acquired the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, a non-partisan think tank based in Berkeley, California, leading to the start of the Hall Institute of Public Policy – California.

Located in Trenton directly across from the New Jersey State House, the institute was established by George E. Hall, a successful business executive and a leading philanthropist who lives in Middletown, N.J.