Gerald Bradshaw

Gerald Bradshaw is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune.

Students on staff of of the Munster High School newspaper, the Crier, work in the computer lab. (Jared Quigg/Post-Tribune)

Guest column: Why every high school student should write for publication

August 31, 2026 at 3:15 p.m.

A student with three years of reporting, editing and publication experience shows persistence and responsibility. More importantly, there is an actual body of work to show for it as well...

Burton Tower on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2017. (Hunter Dyke/Ann Arbor News)

Bradshaw: Rating the benefits of top public, private universities

August 6, 2026 at 1:10 p.m.

The best university is not necessarily the most prestigious one but the institution offering the strongest combination of academic opportunity, personal fit and financial value.

The campus of Yale University is seen, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Bradshaw: What high school students know that Yale does not

July 15, 2026 at 6:03 p.m.

Yale should get credit for acknowledging that its grading system has lost credibility, and its proposed reforms are worth pursuing. But adjusting the average grade from an A to a...

Bradshaw: Detailed experiences can take an application from good to great

June 22, 2026 at 2:40 p.m.

The winning application does not need to be perfect, but it needs to be coherent. By the time readers reach the end, they should see more than a collection of...

FILE – People walk between buildings on Harvard University campus, Dec. 17, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Bradshaw: There’s a new trap in college grading

June 8, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.

Once nearly everyone receives high marks, the institution has not made everyone excellent. It has made excellence harder to identify.

Students at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management gather Monday, Oct. 8, 2018 in the school’s Global Hub on the Evanston campus.(Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)

Bradshaw: MBA not the go-to credential any longer

May 26, 2026 at 10:33 a.m.

The MBA is still valuable when it teaches real skills, builds useful networks and improves career options. But it is no longer a magic stamp.

Bradshaw: How AI can become a scientific partner

April 27, 2026 at 2:36 p.m.

Curricula and admissions systems were built for a world in which human effort was the primary input. That world is disappearing. The challenge now is to measure not what students...

Hinsdale High School District 86's consumer educationmoney management class covers personal finance and budgeting. (Kimberly Fornek / Pioneer Press)

Bradshaw: Personal finance class crucial in preparing for adulthood

April 3, 2026 at 11:35 a.m.

Students who took a high school personal finance class are five times more likely to say they graduated fully prepared to handle money than those who didn’t.

Bradshaw: AI can assist kids with questions, storytelling

March 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m.

What makes AI uniquely suited to five-year-olds isn’t its intelligence — it’s its patience, its responsiveness, and its willingness to engage with whatever peculiar, delightful rabbit hole a small person...

From left, Bryce Graham, 18; Hammond Area Career Center Skill Advisor Scott Ciupak; and student Alex Waszak, 18, work on building a plant stand on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Hammond. Graham, who attends Griffith High School; Waszak, of Highland; and two other Highland High School seniors graduated with a carpentry certification and competed nationally in Atlanta, Georgia. (John Smierciak / for the Post-Tribune)

The AI boom may mark the return of the shop class

February 25, 2026 at 6:00 a.m.

The kid who learns to run conduit and terminate high-voltage panels in a well-funded high school program may ultimately have a clearer path to financial security than many of their...

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