| International |
An Intelligent Argument on Race? | The journal Philosophical Psychology is taking flak for publishing an article in defense of race-based science on intelligence. The publication’s editors anticipated blowback, writing an accompanying note as to why they approved the piece by Nathan Cofnas, a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of Oxford. But some critics of the article say that the editors’ note raises as many questions as it attempts to pre-empt, and they want a formal response to their concerns. [Note: If you read the work to the left (or above), you will learn that higher education scholars redefined “academic freedom” in the 1970s to protect conservative ideology on race and to distance the concept of academic freedom from higher learning. Ergo…]
We must spearhead the defence of knowledge and science | In the past decade several things happened which we did not see coming. We did not predict that there would be a referendum which would propel Britain into Brexit and into a confused attempt to extricate itself from European integration. Nor did we predict an American presidential election that changed not just the global power constellations, but also the norms of what a political leader is or is not in a constitutional democracy.
Will the 2020s see Asia pull ahead in higher education? | One could argue that censorship in China, recent campus violence in India and recent protests in Hong Kong might lessen Asia’s attractiveness as a global education destination in the short term, but anywhere with five universities in the world’s top 100, as Hong Kong has for instance, has a powerful base for attracting students.
How higher education can adapt to the future of work | One…study, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), estimated that about 14% of jobs across its member countries are highly automatable and another 32% will be radically transformed by technological progress…According to the McKinsey Global Institute, 20-30% of the working-age population in the United States and the European Union is engaged in technology-enabled and on-demand, independent work; a number that is expected to grow.
Europe has free college. Here’s how it’s working out. Opinion [Note: Not Ours] | European-style tuition-free higher education has proved one thing beyond the shadow of a doubt: “Free” college is actually wildly expensive. Americans already pay a steep price for our higher education system. Taxpayers — including those who never went to college and never intend to — spend more than $150 billion a year on federal student loans, grants, and other government programs.
Has global higher education recovered from the financial crash? | A measure of initial government expenditure on tertiary education per student, adjusted for inflation and the varying cost of living in different countries, suggests that among the nations that fared the worst were the Republic of Ireland, where public investment in the student unit of resource fell by a third from 2008 to 2016, and Spain, where it dropped by 21 per cent. Other European countries such as France (down 11 per cent) also took a substantial hit, while some kept public spending relatively high but with variations year by year, such as Switzerland.
The University as a Democratic Institution | India, the world’s largest democracy, has more than 37,000 institutions of higher education, with 32.3 million students and 1,367,535 faculty members. The country produces roughly three million graduates every year and places third in the largest higher education system in the world, behind United States of America and China. With the arrival of neo-liberal policies in the 1990s, Indian education has been experiencing new socio-political churning. Scholars have debated whether, under the neo-liberal model, the challenges in the fields of finance and public–private partnerships and autonomy, access, equity, and quality and excellence and exclusion explain how education is becoming a commodity in the present age of market liberalization and teachers are becoming ‘Traders of Knowledge’.
| U.S. National |
Recalibrating Our Understanding of Failure | In a nutshell, Tony Carnevale and his colleagues at CEW lay out data that illustrates that poor kids with higher intelligence and aptitude are less likely to succeed in school than more well-to-do kids with lower intelligence and aptitude. Let me put that another, less diplomatic, way. Despite our best efforts and intentions, when it comes to academic success and persistence to date, schools tend to sort kids by income and zip code, not aptitude, and colleges complete the job.
Cynics, Skeptics and Pollyannas | Stratification within higher education continues to increase without much pushback. Class sizes at underfunded institutions continue to rise — even as faculty at elite institutions increasingly receive 1-1 teaching “loads.” Instead of admitting community college transfers, well-funded universities poach students from urban publics.
Immigration works best when college is affordable | The aggregate amount of student loan debt has risen to $1.6 trillion, according to a report last week by Moody’s Investors Service, and that enormous debt is prohibiting young people from moving on to the next stages of their lives. They are forced to wait longer to form households. They must put off buying homes, cars and furniture.
| U.S. States and Territories |
Vermont By Degrees: Coming up with creative solutions | With several private colleges and universities shuttering across New England, higher education’s existential crisis has never been greater. There are many questions. How does higher education remain relevant in the face of concerns of affordability and value? How do colleges and universities contribute to the local economy and workforce development? And what role do we play in connecting and engaging the community via cultural events and programming, especially in a sparsely populated, rural state such as Vermont?
2010: Colorado on brink of higher education funding crisis | When the Great Recession hit in 2007, the state of Colorado found serious funding shortages that had to be resolved in order to balance the state budget. According to the article, the state went after the two services that didn’t have protected funding increases.
Let’s prioritize higher education | Higher education is an investment, not just a cost. By not adequately funding higher education in Illinois, we are eating our seed corn.
| Institutional |
U of Illinois raises tuition for the first time in 6 years | The University of Illinois System has raised tuition and fees for in-state freshmen for the first time in six years, affecting all three of its institutions. Its board of trustees on Thursday approved a 1.8% tuition increase for in-state freshmen at the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses and a 1% increase in Springfield.
Professor: Community colleges need to look at implicit bias against men of color | Words of encouragement from a teacher or a smile of acknowledgment when passing a student in the hallway might seem trivial. But they would have made 12 years of public schooling a lot more welcoming for Kaydon Donald, 18, of Elgin. Instead, it’s the “microaggressions” that stick out in Donald’s mind. The subtle slights. The times when teachers perceived black students like him as stupid or lazy for not asking questions or let out exasperated sighs when they did.
Purdue Global Has Had a Rocky Start. Is It Growing Pains or a Sign of Trouble? [subscription require] | A $43-million loss last year was due in part to marketing costs. And the institution expects to turn a profit this year.
Shared leadership for student success and institutional effectiveness | Experts in technology—whether they’re chief information officers or working in the field—are educators. They’re educators of colleagues, faculty and staff. Success with the administrative operation is important when thinking about moving things in such a way that we’re able to get the job of teaching and learning done. The technology piece is not an add-on piece. It must be seen as integrated with the teaching and learning process, both in the classroom and in the institution.
