International
Ambitious Modi plan to restructure HE and boost research | India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development this week unveiled a draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019, just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured a solid majority for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in national elections, giving him a second term in office. The ambitious plan lays out a wide-ranging restructuring of higher education in the country and aims to promote a research culture in higher education with the creation of a new National Research Foundation.
New government plans to strengthen higher education | The extension of the school leaving age is a response to an OECD report of May 2019 stating that Finland’s highly selective universities must start easing their admission requirements because too many young people are being left behind. The OECD report found that the teens have an increasingly difficult time stepping up from secondary education into tertiary education.
U.S. National
When White Scholars Pick White Scholars | All but one of the National Communication Association’s 70 distinguished scholars are white. Most if not all members of the organization agree that’s a problem. But the association’s new plan for selecting its distinguished scholars — in which a special committee, not the existing group of scholars, chooses new honorees — has proven controversial. And one of the association’s distinguished scholars in particular just fanned the flames with an editorial that critics say pits merit against diversity.
How the Great Recession Is Still Straining State Finances 10 Years Later | Facing revenue shortfalls, many states slashed spending on education in the wake of the recession. The thirds largest component of state budgets, financial support for higher education in 2018 was 13% lower than it was in 2008 on an inflation-adjusted basis. “Many states now rely primarily on tuition revenue from students and their families, rather than state support, to fund public higher education,” the report says. And that shift in funding source may be permanent, with students now expected to cover more of the costs higher education.
IHEP Report Recommends Strengthening Data-Use Practices | “Data uncovers the inequities,” said Mamie Voight, vice president of policy research for the Institute of Higher Education Policy (IHEP). “Data on its own is not going to close equity gaps, but it does shine a light and point out important findings to guide efforts that will ultimately lead to improvement.” In a report released on Tuesday, IHEP highlights the importance of postsecondary accreditors utilizing data to inform their reviews. With more complete data, accreditors can evaluate institutional progress and see to it that the institutions they oversee are providing equitable opportunities for all students.
Graduation Rates Are Rising, but Is That Because Standards Are Slipping? | A working paper tests the hypothesis that colleges are making it easier to graduate.
Private Nonprofit College Closures, 2016-Present | The list that follows includes private, nonprofit colleges that have closed from 2016 to the present. The list does not include colleges that have merged with or into other institutions.
For-profit education is the leading cause of America’s student debt crisis | Using detailed data provided by the Department of Education, Scott-Clayton showed that repayment defaults are particularly frequent when it comes to for-profit institutions. Her predictions are pessimistic: the default rate for borrowers who attended a for-profit college could reach 70% by 2023, she estimated, far higher than the default rate following graduation from a bachelor’s degree from a public institution or private nonprofit institution.
U.S. States
It’s getting harder for low-income students to afford college, though Minnesota shows hopeful trends | Minnesota is in better shape than other states, according to the report. After years of more state investment in need-based aid, moderate tuition increases, and higher family income, the analysis shows schools here have become more affordable. It’s one of about a dozen states trending in a hopeful direction. But the price tag is still too high for low-income students at most of Minnesota’s two- and four-year schools.
Soul-Crushing Cost of College in California, Explained | It’s not your grandparents’ — or even your parents ’— higher-ed system. A young Californian of the Baby Boomer generation, bolstered by the post-war economic boom and the state’s investment in public higher education, could often emerge from college with little to no debt and a clear path to a living wage and homeownership. Today’s California students, by contrast, graduate with an average of more than $20,000 in student debt. California offers more generous financial aid than most other states, but gone are the days of taking free college for granted. Studies show many students struggle even to afford food and housing.
It’s time for lawmakers to support Oregon higher education | The growing crisis in higher education access puts Oregon’s economy in peril. Skyrocketing tuition costs and deep cuts to our essential student success services as well as the faculty and staff that help us succeed are the statewide consequence of the Legislature’s reluctance to act on higher education funding. When students face annual tuition hikes, student debt skyrockets and students struggle with food insecurity and housing insecurity at alarming rates.
Institutional
After a Campaign With Racial Overtones, Western Illinois President Is Out | Budget shortfalls and declining numbers of high-school graduates have put stress on many regional public colleges across the nation, and Illinois has been particularly hard hit. But the final weeks of Thomas’s tenure were novel, as a local campaign to oust the university’s first black president took shape, and some people argued that it was racially motivated. A couple of weeks ago, The McDonough County Voice, a local newspaper, published the contents of emails in which an emeritus professor told a trustee that Thomas had been able to hang on to his job for so long only because he is black.
U. of Oklahoma Severs Ties With Former President Following Title IX Investigation | The former University of Oklahoma president David L. Boren has agreed to resign from and sever all ties with the institution following the conclusion of a Title IX investigation. Boren, who retired as president in June 2018 but continued teaching political science, has been accused of sexual harassment by university aides, news of which surfaced in March. Boren, who is also a former governor and U.S. senator, chose to resign from his teaching post after the investigation, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the university.
Should Colleges Reveal How Many Donor Children They Admit? | U.S. senator Ron Wyden of Oregon in March pledged to introduce legislation to respond to the scandal. Wyden is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, an influential perch from which to influence tax policy, which is key to any regulation of tax deductions. In April, Wyden and Senator Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs the Finance Committee, wrote to the Internal Revenue Service to urge tough enforcement of any abuses of the charitable contributions tax breaks that came out during the admissions scandal.