| International |
How analytics can help disadvantaged students progress | When the United Kingdom government called on universities to tackle high rates of student dropouts earlier this year, figures illustrated that disadvantaged students were still more likely to drop out of university compared with their more advantaged peers. Since then, it was announced that the University of Cambridge had admitted a record number of underrepresented, disadvantaged students. Similarly, Warwick University unveiled a package of efforts to recruit disadvantaged students that included financial support, reduced admissions barriers and aid to local schools. However, recent figures from the UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) have again pointed to a trend of disadvantaged students being more likely to drop out, adding that the attrition rate between rich and poor students has widened over a year.
The role of educators in the fight against neoliberalism | The worldwide protests have prompted some supporters of an ‘enlightened’ capitalism, as they define it, to concede that neoliberalism is on life support. Education generally, including universities, is certainly not immune from the impact of neoliberalism. Universities are confronted by renewed privatisation, intensive marketisation and a challenge to the very notion of the university as a mechanism for addressing social inequality and facilitating the circulation of knowledge. The warnings of colleagues about ‘academic capitalism’ more than two decades ago (whereby academic staff are channelled into entrepreneurial ventures as part of the university’s income-generating ethic and the embedding of universities within the logic of capitalism) has become the norm globally.
| U.S. National |
The cost of college increased by more than 25% in the last 10 years—here’s why | During the 1978 – 1979 school year, it cost the modern equivalent of $17,680 per year to attend a private college and $8,250 per year to attend a public college. By the 2008 – 2009 school year those costs had grown to $38,720 at private colleges and $16,460 at public colleges. Today, those costs are closer to $48,510 and $21,370, respectively. That means costs increased by roughly 25.3% at private colleges and about 29.8% at public colleges.
College grads earn 80% more—but only 51% of Americans see college as very important | [A] Gallup poll of more than 2,000 American adults reveals that roughly half of Americans don’t see college as a necessity. In 2013, Gallup found that 70% of U.S. adults considered a college education to be “very important,” 23% felt it was “fairly important” and 6% said it was “not too important.” In 2019, those figures have shifted to 51%, 36% and 13%, respectively.
The Ghost of Higher Education Past | The present looks very much like the antebellum era. We are witnessing demands for change, the denial of the need to change and myriad institutional reforms and experiments. We are still testing new ideas that ultimately will lead to new models, just as after the Civil War…As yet, we can speculate, but we lack agreed-upon models. There is nothing obvious to consolidate, standardize or scale, though some candidates are emerging. The shift from the industrial model of courses, credit hours and seat time to an information-economy model of learning outcomes with individualized, technologically powered paths to reaching them, is leading to a competency-based design for education.
Fewer Students Are Going To College. Here’s Why That Matters | Over the past eight years, college enrollment nationwide has fallen about 11%. Every sector — public state schools, community colleges, for-profits and private liberal arts schools — has felt the decline, though it has been especially painful for small private colleges, where, in some cases, institutions have been forced to close.
Federal Loans and ISAs | The U.S. Department of Education is poised to create an experimental program through which a limited number of colleges would take on students’ federal loan debt, with students then repaying the institution for the loan balance, potentially based on their future earnings. As a result, the experiment would enable federal loans to be paid off through a form of income-share agreement, where students agree to pay a certain percentage of their future income over a set period of time in exchange for funding of their educational program expenses.
| U.S. States and Territories |
Idaho’s 4-year public colleges announce tuition freeze for next year | Idaho’s four public college and university presidents came together Thursday to announce they’ll freeze undergraduate in-state tuition and fees for next year at this year’s level — the first-such statewide freeze in 43 years. “We must begin in earnest to address the issue of higher education affordability,” Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee said.
Enrollment Dropped 1.3% This Fall From a Year Ago. But Not Every State Tells the Same Story. [subscription required] | Utah, which experienced almost 5-percent growth, was one of 15 states that saw enrollments rise this fall relative to the fall of 2018. But Alaska had it worst, with a dropoff of more than 10 percent.
University of California System Faces Civil Rights Lawsuit Over Standardized Testing | The argument presented in the case isn’t new. Advocates for college access have long questioned the value of standardized testing, and many view it as yet another barrier to higher education for underprivileged students. College Board’s 2018 data shows 44% of White students scored above a 1200 on the SAT, compared to only 10% of Black students and 12% of Latinx students. An increasing number of schools have adopted test optional policies – 47 colleges and universities this year alone, according to a report by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, or FairTest. About 1,060 colleges and universities now deemphasize testing in one way or another in the admissions process.
| Institutional |
3 Observations: Campus Protests | As you plan, recognize that not all protests are created equally: different types of protest activity will implicate different values and call for different administrative responses. I tend to divide protests into three buckets. The most benign protests are those that (a) do not interfere with the speech rights of others and (b) do not significantly impede campus operations….In these case, the administrative response can usually be limited to communication and negotiation. A second category: protests that do not interfere with the free speech of others, but do interfere with campus operations. Here, the university may need to respond with disciplinary sanctions or student removal, depending on the extent of the disruption…Finally, the third and most significant category: protests with free speech dimensions…While protest activity in the other categories may be challenging and disruptive, protests that limit the speech of others threaten the very purpose of the university, which is grounded in the free exchange of beliefs, values, opinions and theories. In my view, administrative leaders must respond decisively to these events, to protect the right of speakers to communicate and to deter future acts that disrupt speech. [Note: More decisively than disciplinary sanctions or student removal? Pray tell us what that means rather than end the piece abruptly.]
An Industry-Aligned Education | The City University of New York system is working to add new courses this spring in data analytics and cybersecurity. The system hopes to launch eight new courses and revise one older one under the guidance of companies that are part of Business Roundtable, a nonprofit association of CEOs. Four community colleges and three senior colleges, including Brooklyn College, Baruch College and York College, will be offering the courses.
A Cash-Strapped University Bet on Student Success — and Grew [subscription required] | A major investment in undergraduate support, close attention to data, and a shift in the way it allocates resources gave the University of Rhode Island a lot to celebrate. [Higher education journalism’s lament: Why can’t more universities be like University of Rhode Island!]
What does it mean for a university to be engaged in public education? | At Drexel, our approach to engagement in public education builds on lessons learned from the past and keeps a keen eye on the future, with its School of Education leading the way. Our approach focuses on enhancing learning by partnering with school leaders and the District to embed knowledgeable people and resources in our partner schools. The School of Education runs one of our teacher-education classes inside a public school so that the university students can learn what it is like to work in a typical urban classroom.
Opinion: How Michigan State lost its way and why the future holds promise | What happened in East Lansing followed a national trend in higher education that began in the 1980s — a transition I and others call, University, Inc. Public higher education began being led and managed more like a corporation, less as a public institution. A business model organized around competitive advantage, peer ranking and money (grants and philanthropy) became the coin of the realm. Areas that didn’t contribute to those outcomes were less important because they had no impact on helping universities move up in the rankings. In a way, universities began operating like their athletic teams. Winning mattered and everything else was less critical—despite frequent rhetoric to the contrary.
New Model for Community Colleges | The Arrupe model seems to be working. The average two-year graduation rate is 51 percent, nearly 89 percent of graduates matriculate at four-year colleges and about half of Arrupe graduates complete a bachelor’s degree in four years. These numbers are remarkable when compared with the local public two-year options, the City Colleges of Chicago, which announced a record three-year graduation rate of 22.9 percent last year, as well as the national average six-year graduation rate of 39 percent for community colleges. The reasons for the college’s success are manifold, Katsouros said. All students participate in interviews for enrollment. Once enrolled, they go through an orientation that includes a residential experience. [Higher education journalism’s lament: Why can’t City Colleges of Chicago be more like Arrupe College? One possible answer: City Colleges of Chicago is an open enrollment, nonresidential, and public institution with more than 350 students…]
