We don’t need to “rethink college” — we need to rethink the arguments against it: Opinion. It’s that time of year again. Students pour onto college campuses, move into dorms and start attending classes. And at exactly the same time that the college school year is starting up, we get yet another theory about why higher education is in crisis and college students are at risk. It wouldn’t be the start of the academic calendar without someone suggesting that everything the university is doing is wrong and that they have the answer for how to fix it. Salon. Continue >>
College students say they want a degree for a job. Are they getting what they want? College is increasingly seen by high school students as a means to an end: getting a job. Since the Great Recession, surveys of teenagers — and the choices they are making about their college majors — show that higher education has become less about preparing for life or learning something that interests undergraduates and much more about securing employment. Washington Post. Continue >>
Hard copy or electronic textbooks? Professors are more concerned about keeping them affordable: When students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette went to purchase an online textbook for an introductory accounting class this week, they were sticker-shocked. While the hard-copy version of the book and the access code for online materials would run about $250 in the university’s bookstore, the e-book version of the text, available through the online learning portal WileyPlus, was priced at $999. Chronicle of Higher Education. Continue >>
Alexa, what’s the deal with you, anyway? All students moving into residence halls at Saint Louis University this week will find a corner of their desks already taken up by a new roommate. Her name is Alexa. Housed in a SLU-branded Amazon Echo Dot, Alexa is the anthropomorphic personal assistant every 21st-century student needs, or so says David Hakanson, chief innovation officer at SLU. SLU purchased 2,300 Echo Dots from Amazon to put in students’ dorm rooms. Inside Higher Ed. Continue >>
5 pearls of wisdom about college for students starting their first year: Fall may not be quite in the air yet, but the school year is already beginning on many campuses. And so college freshmen, who just a few months ago tossed their high school graduation caps into the air and heard “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!,” begin a new season of angst. Did I choose the right school? What should I major in? Will I ever use that major? Does anyone ever use that major? The Times has a Facebook group for readers, and a member who is an incoming college freshman recently asked these questions. New York Times. Continue >>
It’s time to tell students what they need to know: What’s the real value of a college education? For some people, that is calculated by the earning power that comes with a particular college degree. For others, it’s more about the satisfaction of a particular career, or about the social skills or intellectual rewards gained from the college experience. In every case, it is a life-altering decision with little data to inform it. Washington Post. Continue >>
America’s education ‘deserts’ show limits of relaxing regulations on colleges: The Trump administration is moving to replace punishment of underperforming colleges with “market-based accountability” in which students will get more information about their range of enrollment choices. This is part of a group of regulatory changes aimed at promoting innovation in higher education. But the market for higher education is different from traditional markets in ways that mean merely providing more information, while helpful, is not enough. New York Times. Continue >>
Madonna University to launch football program in 2020: The City of Livonia will have a college football team to call its own starting in the year 2020. Madonna University, currently a member of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, announced it is making a financial commitment to the sport during a large gathering late Wednesday morning at the Franciscan Center. "Hopefully we'll have a coach by January in order to recruit for the 2020 season," said Madonna University athletic director Scott Kennell, who addressed the crowd. Observer & Eccentric. Continue >>
Trump’s Education Department moves to rescind rule aimed at for-profit schools: The Trump administration set in motion Friday the repeal of an Obama-era regulation that sought to ensure students attending career programs mainly at for-profit colleges do not pile up debt they can’t repay. The 2014 “gainful employment” rule caps the debt former students amass in those programs in relation to their income after leaving school. Programs that breach the limits over multiple years could be shut out of federal student aid funding, putting schools in financial peril. Washington Post. Continue >>
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The talent is out there. So why don’t elite colleges enroll more low-income students? The American Enterprise Institute recently released a report that claimed that America’s selective colleges have held steady in their enrollment of low-income students, while seeing a decline in middle-income students. Though it is not stated directly, the authors seem to be saying that colleges should shift their attention from low-income to middle-income students. Washington Post. Continue >>
Colleges and universities woo once-overlooked transfer students: Transfer students — whose challenges have often been ignored in higher education — are feeling a surge in popularity as colleges and universities are increasingly wooing them. “This was a group that was always taken for granted,” said Todd Rinehart, vice chancellor for enrollment at the University of Denver. But last month, the University of California system announced that it has accepted more transfer students than ever before. New York Times. Continue >>
Facing calls to hasten his departure, USC’s president steps aside: C.L. Max Nikias has officially stepped down as president of the University of Southern California, the university announced on Tuesday, more than two months after he said he would leave the post. In his place, USC’s Board of Trustees has appointed one of its members, Wanda M. Austin, as interim president. Austin, an alumna who has served on the board since 2010, is an aeronautics engineer. Chronicle of Higher Education. Continue >>
Panicked universities in search of students are adding thousands of new majors: When Western Nevada College launches a program in cybersecurity this fall, it will have spent about $130,000 on planning and to build a state-of-the-art computer lab. The college projects that 70 students will eventually enroll in the certificate program. So far, five have committed. Western Nevada is hoping 20 will show up for the inaugural class but won’t know until the semester begins. Washington Post. Continue >>
The Growing Divide Over Student Debt: It’s been completely forgotten today, but Trump’s platform included a decent student loan plan. Calling the debt burden a “crisis,” he vowed to cap loan repayments at 12.5 percent of a borrower’s income, and to completely forgive the balance if a borrower made payments for 15 years. This would be more generous than current income-based repayment plans. Trump also talked about pressuring colleges to lower skyrocketing tuition costs. New Republic. Continue >>
USC’s president agreed to step down amid scandals. Months later, faculty are asking him to, um, actually leave: In May, facing intense pressure amid scandals, the president of the University of Southern California agreed to step down. On Wednesday, hundreds of faculty members asked the school’s board of trustees to ensure that really happens. C.L. Max Nikias has led USC since 2010, earning a reputation for accelerating the private research university’s academics, global impact and fundraising. But during the past year, the university’s response to high-profile scandals led to demands for his resignation. Washington Post. Continue >>
Could a lottery system fix discrimination in college admissions? A federal court has in recent weeks unsealed a trove of documents revealing how Harvard decides whom to admit out of the 40,000 or so students who apply each year for its roughly 1,600 freshman seats. The documents, provided as part of a 2014 lawsuit filed by the organization Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), which represents Asian Americans who at some point were rejected from Harvard, contain compelling evidence that the university’s admissions system disadvantages Asian applicants. Atlantic. Continue >>
What do top colleges have against transfer students? In May, Princeton University announced that it accepted 13 transfer students for this fall’s freshman class. And while that is a tiny fraction of the 1,300 students expected to arrive this fall on campus, the news was still significant: It marked the first time since 1990 that Princeton had accepted transfer students. The image of the modern undergraduate is no longer one that packs up the family minivan three months after high school graduation to move away to college for four years. More than one-third of college students today transfer at least once before earning a bachelor’s degree. Washington Post. Continue >>
DeVos plans to ax gainful-employment rule, which targeted for-profit colleges: The Education Department plans to repeal the gainful-employment rule, which sought to punish higher-education programs whose graduates bear a high level of student-loan debt, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Experts had predicted that the education secretary, Betsy DeVos, aimed to weaken the rule, not scrap it. Chronicle of Higher Education. Continue >>
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Are the Right Students Applying for Federal College Aid? States and school districts have been pushing hard to get all students to apply for financial aid. But more and more, they’re zeroing in on low-income families to address a key irony of the college affordability problem: The students who most need help paying for college are the least likely to seek it. With billboards, yard signs, demographic analysis, and lots of networking, district and school officials are trying to reach into neighborhoods with big populations of low-income families and parents who never went to college. Education Week. Continue >>
Scholars Quit UVa Center Over Appointment of Former Trump Administration Official: Two historians said on Monday that they have resigned from the University of Virginia’s public-policy center to oppose the appointment of a former top official in the Trump administration, a decision they say shows an “appalling indifference to the civility of our own city and university.” Marc Short, who was the White House legislative-affairs director, was appointed to a yearlong senior fellowship at the Miller Center, a nonpartisan affiliate of the university that specializes in political history, presidential history, and public policy. Short was also invited to be a guest lecturer. Chronicle of Higher Education. Continue >>
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Where they stand: Michigan governor candidates on college affordability: Bridge Magazine asked Democratic, Republican and Libertarian candidates for Michigan governor what they would do to reduce college costs for Michigan families. Some answered the question directly. Others, not so much. Those facing primary challenges include: Republicans Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Attorney General Bill Schuette, State Sen. Patrick Colbeck, and Dr. Jim Hines; Democrats Gretchen Whitmer, a former state senator, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and businessman Shri Thanedar; and Libertarians Bill Gelineau, a title insurance company agent, and John Tatar, who owns a construction company. Bridge. Continue >>
Why you shouldn't chase a scholarship from Tyler Perry: Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry does not have a scholarship sitting on the sidelines just waiting to help you go to college. No matter what you might spot on Facebook. No one who just calls you out of the blue needs your credit card number to hold onto a scholarship in your name, either. And really, someone you meet at a party does not have a great way to make money fast. Never, ever hand over the login information for your bank account to a stranger who somehow convinces you of a "sure deal." Detroit Free Press. Continue >>
Debt-free college? House Democrats introduce higher education bill: House Democrats this week are expected to unveil a sweeping plan to make college more affordable by reducing debt and simplifying financial aid. The Democrats’ plan would also endeavor to boost graduation rates. The proposal counters a Republican bill that aims to overhaul the law that dictates the federal government’s role in higher education. The Higher Education Act, originally passed in 1965, is supposed to be renewed every five years but was last reauthorized a decade ago. Washington Post. Continue >>
College Board restores 250 years to AP World History course after outcry over plan to cut 9,000 years: Responding to an outcry over proposed changes, the College Board has agreed to restore 250 years to its AP World History course to ensure that students learn how civilizations outside Europe influenced the modern era. The course will start at the year 1200 rather than the previously announced shift to 1450. The decision comes after the College Board, a nonprofit organization that owns the SAT and Advanced Placement program, announced that it was scaling back the AP World History course it has offered since 2002. Washington Post. Continue >>
DeVos will join Turning Point USA, conservative campus group, at conference: Secretary Betsy DeVos of the U.S. Education Department will appear alongside Charlie Kirk, the controversial founder of Turning Point USA, as part of the group’s High School Leadership Summit, taking place this week in Washington, the Education Department announced on Monday.Turning Point USA is a right-wing group that has caused an upheaval among campus conservatives, with some criticizing it for undermining conservatism at colleges writ large. It has also faced allegations of racism in its ranks. Chronicle of Higher Education. Continue >>
Scholars, know thy history: higher ed has always struggled to survive in the U.S.: If I were a graduate-school dean, I would propose that every doctoral student be required to take a course on the history of American higher education. Schools of education already offer such a course but it’s mostly for their own students. It’s not a seminar that most graduate students in the arts and sciences have either the incentive or the opportunity to take. Chronicle of Higher Education. Continue >>
Are the right students applying for federal college aid? States and school districts have been pushing hard to get all students to apply for financial aid. But more and more, they’re zeroing in on low-income families to address a key irony of the college affordability problem: The students who most need help paying for college are the least likely to seek it. With billboards, yard signs, demographic analysis, and lots of networking, district and school officials are trying to reach into neighborhoods with big populations of low-income families and parents who never went to college. The message: It’s important to fill out the federal financial-aid form—known as the FAFSA—and we can help you do it. Education Week. Continue >>
Trump administration moves to make it harder for defrauded students to erase debt: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos moved Wednesday to make it harder for students who say they were defrauded by colleges to erase their debts, rolling back Obama-era regulations that for-profit colleges saw as threatening their survival. The proposed rules published Wednesday require students to prove schools knowingly deceived them if they want their federal loans canceled. And it scuttled an Obama administration provision that allowed similar claims to be processed as a group. Instead, students will have to prove their claims individually. Washington Post. Continue >>
