International
It’s time we thought again about higher education | What ails the Indian university? First, public investment in education (as a fraction of GDP, for example) is low by world standards (4 per cent vs 4.9 per cent). This leads to relatively poor infrastructure, insufficient educational and laboratory resources, and poor hiring and retention. Second, the metrics for hiring and assessment are focused on numbers, instead of quality and impact.
Student expectations of higher education | In 2003, 63 per cent of Australian students had expectations of continuing on to a university degree after school. In 2015, this had decreased to 54 per cent. For Indigenous students, there was a greater decrease of 15 percentage points for this expectation over the 12-year-period, from 43 to 28 per cent.
Teens have lower expectations of achieving university degree | Between 2003 and 2015, the proportion of Australian 15-year-olds expecting to do a university degree fell from 63 per cent to 54 per cent, still significantly higher than the average in OECD countries of 44 per cent.
UK universities face a crisis of over-ambitious expansion | Higher education is now a mess. Two-thirds of UK students will never pay off their loan debt. Last month’s House of Lords report on the sector described the present university finance system as “inefficient”. The maintenance loans system designed to support disadvantaged students is rightly condemned as “deeply unfair”.
U.S. National
The challenge of a universal transcript | A 2015 report from the National Student Clearinghouse showed that more than a third of college students transfer at least once over a six-year period. While a number of students may have gone to other traditional two- or four-year institutions, others may have tried online courses, a form of experiential learning program or even an apprenticeship.
U.S. States
Report Finds Statewide Crisis of Basic Needs Insecurity in California Higher Ed | Some of the key findings include for the CCC, “Housing accounts for 43% of the cost of being a CCC student, and 30% of students are solely responsible for their housing costs.” The recent study found that about 40 percent of Community College students “had very low food security” and “a quarter of students experienced homelessness.”
Student Success Summit aims to bolster degree holders, educational outcomes | The summit was a collaboration among the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, the College Foundation of West Virginia and the state Department of Education designed to bring together educators and other crucial staff, such as counselors, from across the school spectrum — from pre-kindergarten through college. Sessions were held throughout the two-day conference dealing in matters ranging from crisis planning and working better with disadvantaged students to loan payments and helping veteran and at-risk students, among others.
Report: Pennsylvania one of the least affordable states for college | A new report has confirmed the suspicions of anyone who has paid for in-state tuition here in Pennsylvania: The state is one of the least affordable.
Institutional
Is the Black Man the Bogeyman in the Ivory Tower? | Even after establishing credibility and capability, some Black males in higher education are still likely to face being shelved into stereotypical categories. This creates an uncomfortable equation wherein capable talent must prove to their environments that they are not the bogeyman.
Breaking Down Barriers in Higher Education | In 2014 Felician was designated a minority-serving institution (underrepresented students) by the Department of the Interior and as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS) by the US Department of Education. I’m proud to share that over the years our campus has become more diverse and comprises 59 percent minority designated students – 29 percent Latinx, 24 percent African American, and 6 percent Asian- this figure is up 7% from 2015. Becoming a more diverse campus is only part of our goal at Felician, the other is improving the retention and graduation rates of our minority student body.