Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Higher education

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WikiProject Higher education was featured in a WikiProject Report in the Signpost on 30 August 2010.

WikiProject Higher education

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Harvard College issue

Hello, I’m looking for input on a recurring content dispute regarding the early naming of Harvard College. It has been asserted that the institution was "unnamed" then called “Harvard”; however, there is evidence that it was initially referred to as “New College” prior to being renamed after John Harvard. [1] This source comes from the website listed on the Harvard College wikipedia page, college.harvard.edu, found above the Wikimedia Map.

The concern is that the current page understates this transitional naming history rather than reflecting it accurately. I’m seeking guidance on how best to present the documented sequence of names in a policy-compliant way (for example, whether this would belong in a “former names” section). Does anyone have guidance or precedent on handling early institutional name changes where there is disagreement? Bigcouchtomato (talk) 18:08, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Bigcouchtomato: Wikipedia aims to reflect what independent WP:Reliable sources say about a subject. And it prefers secondary sources. Do any independent sources confirm the name was "New College"? Earlier discussions at Talk:Harvard University suggest that there are no independent sources. TSventon (talk) 20:28, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I've found three independent sources that confirm Harvard's original name was "New College". [2] [3][4] Bigcouchtomato (talk) 23:24, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Bigcouchtomato: where there is disagreement I would suggest a discussion on the article talk page. You could ping EEng and Beyond My Ken.

I looked for Newe Colledge and didn't find anything. TSventon (talk) 00:23, 1 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

There's no "transitional naming history" (other than, much later, Harvard College --> Harvard University). See Talk:Harvard_College#"New_College"_(again). E Eng 16:33, 15 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

is Sloane fellowship notable?

Hey! I have a quick question. I used ChatGPT to help me create two similar pages about guest speakers whose lecture I attended. I edited them, added sources, and removed anything irrelevant. It is not ChatGPT spam.

They are partners and build robots together. It was super inspiring and they do a lot in robotics. I am just not sure if I wasted my time. Is the Sloan Fellowship considered a notable award for notability or not? I originally thought about making a page about the company they founded, but I could not find many sources, so decided to make page for them instead.

I see there is a category on Wikipedia for Sloan Fellows- Category:Sloan Research Fellows

Draft:Abhinav Gupta - has 89k citations and Draft:Deepak Pathak- he has about 29k citations

There were 4 people in total I was going to make pages about, they all work together at the same robotic project. All of them are Sloan Fellows. I created these two pages and then stopped because I am not sure if the Sloan Fellowship is notable on its own. The other two people do not have as many citations, so I did not even start their drafts. Any recommendations? WindsorMaster47 (talk) 23:22, 3 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

It's a research fellowship rather than an award. It's also specifically early-career (tenure-track rather than tenured). Both of these mean I would think it's unlikely to count as "a highly prestigious academic award or honor at a national or international level" for WP:NACADEMIC purposes. Robminchin (talk) 00:37, 4 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

that is exactly why I am having second thoughts. The Sloan Research Fellowship is widely recognized as a highly prestigious national level award, particularly in STEM by the press. However, it is called a "fellowship", not an award. So I do not know if it is considered “highly prestigious academic award” on Wikipedia. It is technically an "academic award", if we try to give it a definition. Early-career limitation does not disqualify prestige. Are there any Wikipedia instructions about it? There is no discussion on Talk:Sloan Research Fellowship

It is not something like top-100-visionary-in-no-name local magazine. This is what I found:

It is awarded based on scholarly merit and research impact, not service, employment, or internal nomination

It is conferred by an independent national foundation

It is competitive, selective, and externally reviewed WindsorMaster47 (talk) 00:57, 4 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

The awards given as examples are all career-level awards, and I think I remember seeing this come up in discussions. Lots of awards are competitively awarded by professional bodies and independent foundations, so I wouldn't particularly think this makes brings it into the "highly prestigious academic award or honor at a national or international level". It's not at the same level as "major academic awards, such as the Nobel Prize, MacArthur Fellowship, the Fields Medal, the Bancroft Prize, the Pulitzer Prize for History, etc.", so it is not clear that it would count. WP:NACADEMIC does mention "less significant academic honors and awards that confer a high level of academic prestige" that "may include certain awards, honors and prizes of notable academic societies, of notable foundations and trusts", but I would read this as referring to the top career-level awards of academic societies, not early-career fellowships. I think I remember that things like the Royal Society University Research Fellowship, which is an equivalent award, have not qualified in the past, so I wouldn't rely on this to establish notability (although many holders of such fellowships do go on to achieve notability by other means). Robminchin (talk) 18:26, 4 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

More on short descriptions

After getting feedback from Wikipedia:WikiProject Short descriptions and taking a deep dive into the guidelines for short descriptions, I wanted to report the following findings for consideration. Quoted information is from WP:SDESC.

Short descriptions for locations

“Indicate the country in the short description, if not explicitly stated in the title. It is reasonable to expect that most country names are known worldwide, although it may be beneficial to explain the names of smaller countries. If space permits, it can be useful to include the local region, for example province, state, or municipal area (those cannot be assumed to be known globally).” An example of the correct format for most locations: “[type of location] in [town/area/region], [country]”.

An example of short description that follows this format: Community college in Reno, Nevada, US
An example of an article that explicitly states the location in its title: University of Neveda, Reno
An example of a article that does not explicitly state the location in its title Elon University

Are colleges and universities locations?

The response to this query from WPSD is yes, and that including the location in the short description for universities and colleges is desirable.

Transcluded short descriptions

There is a precedent for establishing a short description format by the type of article. “Where a single short description (or rule for generating one) is suitable for multiple articles that all use the same template/infobox, the description can be transcluded from the template rather than being added one by one to each article.” Thus, short descriptions could be automatically generated for all articles with an infobox university. (Note that the short descriptions can stil be manually updates, as needed). For a list of infobox-types wher this has already been implemented, see Auto-generated and bot-generated descriptions

I hope this sheds some light on our continuing efforts to create and edit short descriptions. Rublamb (talk) 22:39, 18 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

American Public University System

Hi WikiProject Higher Education, I'm Alex and I work for American Public Education Inc. (APEI), the parent of American Public University System (APUS).

I noticed the APUS article had some unsourced content and didn't really follow the style guidelines you all set out here, so I read through those and did some research and I tried to put together a draft that is sourced, matches those guidelines, and I also tried to add some similar things to what I saw in the Pomona College article, like a graph (that was a challenge!).

I also added in a short section about APEI since there is just an infobox there at the moment. I did my best to add in new information to make the article more up to date, and to update the various facts and figures as needed updating.

I have a COI so I know I can't just make these changes myself. I was hoping someone here might be interested in taking a look? I would really appreciate any thoughts you might have. Thanks! APEI Alex (talk) 14:11, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

this is probably better suited discussion for the article talk page, with a link here to take a look. Semper Fi! FieldMarine (talk) 17:04, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@FieldMarine: Thanks for the note! I have made a post there with some more details about the draft I wrote in case you or anyone else here is interested. Cheers APEI Alex (talk) 19:23, 27 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Requesting help updating Miami Herbert infobox and Rankings section

Hello! I'm a University of Miami employee trying to improve the business school's page. Once a year, I place a request to update the article's infobox with the latest staffing and enrollment figures. I also ask editors to update the school's standing in rankings from publications like Bloomberg, US News, et al. I currently have one of those requests live on the Miami Herbert Talk page. If any editors here could find the time to review that request, I would much appreciate it. Thanks! MT for University of Miami (talk) 20:36, 25 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Are EduRank university rankings suitable for inclusion?

Edurank.org has been discussed a couple of times at the reliable sources noticeboard,[364][499], but my question is not whether they are a reliable source for their own rankings, but whether their university rankings are WP:ENCYCLOPEDIC content.

Wikipedia:College and university article advice addresses rankings, saying they should "represent a comprehensive cross-section of major rankings by national and international publications". EduRank is not mentioned at college and university rankings and seems at best a minor ranking. Only a few scholarly sources use edurank.org.[5][6] (It should not be confused with the unrelated EduRank having to do with e-learning.)

Where few or no major rankings are available, such as for Bangladesh University of Professionals, Port City International University, and State University of Bangladesh, is it good practice to include EduRank university rankings? Or should they be avoided? --Worldbruce (talk) 18:18, 27 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I have avoided using EduRank because I was unsure of its reliability. However, it may well be the only options for rankings of some international institutions. The fact that it is used in any peer-reviewed scholarly papers suggests some value--it is worth noting that both papers are discussing non-US institutions. I would need to dive deeper, but after checking a few well-known US universities, its rankings seem consistent with other established sources. However, that may simply mean that it is using data from U.S. News & World Report, etc. for it findings. Rublamb (talk) 20:51, 4 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

COI edit request relevant to this project: UNT Health Fort Worth

Just notifying members of this project that there are a couple of Conflict of Interest edit requests relevant to this WikiProject at the UNT Health Fort Worth article. DrThneed (talk) 20:28, 3 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

COI edit request relevant to this project: Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Just notifying members of this project that there are a couple of Conflict of Interest edit requests relevant to this WikiProject at the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman article. DrThneed (talk) 00:03, 4 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

How many notable alumni is too many to list in an article about a university?

Three editors of University of the Arts (Philadelphia) are disagreeing about whether the list of notable embedded in the article is excessively long. Input from other editors would be appreciated. ElKevbo (talk) 06:35, 4 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

University of Mississippi user group/task force?

Hey y'all, I'm embarking on a project to expand coverage of the University of Mississippi (see my sandbox) and was wondering if there'd be any interest from folks in here to help improve UM's coverage on the wiki in the form of a dedicated user group. If interested, let me know and we can get the ball rolling on that. Jordano^5³ 20:19, 4 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

COI edit request relevant to this project: Charles Darwin University

Just notifying members of this project that there is a Conflict of Interest edit request relevant to this WikiProject at the Charles Darwin University article. DrThneed (talk) 04:27, 5 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

COI edit request relevant to this project: Horizon University College

Just notifying members of this project that there is a Conflict of Interest edit request relevant to this WikiProject at the Horizon University College article. DrThneed (talk) 03:38, 7 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

COI edit request relevant to this project: Miami Herbert Business School

Just notifying members of this project that there is a Conflict of Interest edit request relevant to this WikiProject at the Miami Herbert Business School article. DrThneed (talk) 05:45, 7 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Good article reassessment for Dalhousie University

Dalhousie University has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Z1720 (talk) 17:41, 12 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Unsourced content in American Public University System

Hi WikiProject Higher Education, Alex with APEI/APUS again. I made a request to update an unsourced part of the history section of American Public University System with some content that does use sources. It might be of interest to folks here. Appreciate any thoughts you might have! Thanks! APEI Alex (talk) 13:53, 13 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

COI edit request relevant to this project: City University of Hong Kong

Just notifying members of this project that there is a Conflict of Interest edit request relevant to this WikiProject at the City University of Hong Kong article. DrThneed (talk) 04:08, 14 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed deletion of Private School of Professional Psychology

The article Private School of Professional Psychology has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

Tagged as Unreferenced and for Notability concerns for 3 years. No actual assertion of notability. Fails the relevant notability guidelines. Lacks significant coverage. Creator blocked for sockpuppetry.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the page to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion based on established criteria.

If the proposed deletion has already been carried out, you may request undeletion of the article at any time. Bearian (talk) 10:55, 17 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Good article reassessment for Solomon Asch

Solomon Asch has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Z1720 (talk) 15:29, 19 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

COI edit request relevant to this project: Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti

Just notifying members of this project that there is a Conflict of Interest edit request relevant to this WikiProject at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti article. DrThneed (talk) 21:11, 19 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Good article reassessment for Joseph Widney

Joseph Widney has been nominated for a good article reassessment. If you are interested in the discussion, please participate by adding your comments to the reassessment page. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status may be removed from the article. Z1720 (talk) 02:45, 26 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move at Talk:State University of New York at Geneseo#Requested move 22 March 2026

There is a requested move discussion at Talk:State University of New York at Geneseo#Requested move 22 March 2026 that may be of interest to members of this WikiProject. TarnishedPath^talk 22:20, 29 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Request Review for Atlantis University page

== Review request: Atlantis University expansion == I've proposed a sourced expansion of the Atlantis University stub on the article's Talk page. I have a COI (disclosed on my user page) so I'm requesting an uninvolved editor to review. The draft includes 12 citations from 10 independent sources. Thank you (this is the first time doing this so I am trying to follow all instructions and guidelines) ~~~~ Andypalaces (talk) 19:33, 7 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Request for comment at Wikiproject: Higher Education article advice page

Hi there,

I wanted to flag an ongoing discussion at the talk page for the project's style guidance page. Basically, the conversation is about the use of acronyms in college/university names. Currently the expressed preference is to spell out acronyms and to include the full name of a larger university system (i.e. University of California, Irvine or University of North Carolina Wilmington, or University of Massachusetts Amherst, rather than UC Irvine, UNC Wilmington, or UMass Amherst).

But some recent RMs at SUNY pages (Geneseo, Cobleskill, Purchase) have raised concerns of WP: Precise with the practice of spelling everything out and prefer that each be shortened either as SUNY Geneseo or SUNY Cobleskill or to an available name that excises the system, like Purchase College. There are also questions of branding and the threshold by which one name becomes more common. To complicate it, there are also post-grad institutions and community colleges that vary in their common name vis a vis SUNY.

Feel free to come by to provide your feedback or concerns with either argument. Thanks! Dizzycheekchewer (talk) 15:50, 12 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]