International
Roma: the UK’s forgotten higher education minority | Only a tiny fraction of the group enter university in the UK and across Europe, but attempts are being made to change the situation.
Student Activism and Issues | A global rise in student activism and the centrality of student concerns to national politics and to higher education prompted University World News to collate this series of Special Reports looking into student movements and issues raised by them. The aim is to deepen understanding and debate on what is transpiring across the student world.
Major shift to supporting science via universities | The Russian government plans to create conditions for the acceleration of research and development activities at the national universities, according to recent statements of Dmitry Livanov, Russia’s minister of education and science.
Yidan Prize Forecast: Education to 2030 | To provide a picture of how key inputs and outcomes will change over the next 14 years, The Economist Intelligence Unit forecasted five education indicators across a mix of 25 economies.1 The indicators are related to three trends: shifting demographics (public expenditure on education and the affordability of tertiary education), the future of work and the skills needed to succeed (youth unemployment and STEM graduates), and the use of technology (Internet access in schools). (33 page pdf)
Education Minister Bruton hopes for political consensus on sources of funding for higher education | A solution to the third-level education funding crisis is more likely to be reached in the long term than one the Government can find quickly, Education Minister Richard Bruton has admitted.
U.S. National
College graduation rates rise, but racial gaps persist and men still out-earn women | Whites, blacks, Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans are all graduating from college at higher rates now, but stubborn racial and gender gaps are widening, a new federal report finds.
Plan to Define and Test What Students Should Know | New book unveils faculty-led effort to chart concepts and competencies students should learn in six academic disciplines, with plan to create standardized tests. Will faculty members warm to this version of “learning outcomes”?
Why Empty-Nest Spending Is Making the Retirement Crisis Worse | The spending by many empty-nesters is largely the result of the costs of higher education. College students now graduate with a load of debt that makes it hard to survive on an entry-level salary without financial help from mom and dad.
When Data Doesn’t Fit the Box | Colleges that accommodate transgender students by letting them choose preferred names and pronouns find their efforts hindered by out-of-date software and federal reporting requirements.
Hidden Side of the College Dream: Mediocre Graduation Rates | According to a new report by Third Way, a Washington-based think tank, only 55 percent of these students who attend private nonprofit colleges graduate within six years. Of the 1,027 private colleges studied, 761 have graduation rates of less than 67 percent.
Incomplete: The Quality Crisis at America’s Private, Non-Profit Colleges | [I]n an analysis of full-time, loan-holding students at four-year private, non-profit colleges, we found a stunning level of institutional failure in fulfilling this mobility promise to students.
Report Finds Bachelor’s Degrees More Beneficial Than Associate’s | When it comes to various forms of well-being—from financial to physical—associate’s degree holders trail behind holders of bachelor’s degrees across the board, according to a new report released Wednesday.
U.S. States
An Increasingly Popular Way To Fund Universities Makes No Sense, Report Says | Many public institutions of higher education are funded through the outcomes they produce for students, but does this funding model actually work for students? A new report from The Century Foundation says the answer is “No,” especially for disadvantaged students.
Helping higher education faculty practice (not preach) equity | The higher education policy environment is squarely focused on equitable outcomes for black, Latino and Native American students. This is a necessary development if we are serious about preparing young people who can succeed in the workforce and uphold democratic values.
A Threat to HBCUs – Race and Higher Education in the South | Combining the location of the public HBCUs with the history of racial intolerance in the South, you have a recipe for at least some awkward interaction, and possibility some level of disaster.
Spellings Says UNC System Won’t Try to Enforce Controversial Bathroom Law | The University of North Carolina system said on Friday that it would not seek to enforce a controversial state law requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender at birth.
SUNY Chancellor announces exit | In a letter to the SUNY family this morning, Chancellor Zimpher praised the university system’s progress toward its strategic goals and outlined priorities for her final year, which include continuing to increase completion, furthering TeachNY, and securing an extension of NYSUNY 2020.
Budget crisis threatens to spill into next fiscal year | Heading into the 11th month of fiscal year, Illinois higher education has yet to see a budget from legislation.
New Hampshire’s community colleges freeze tuition | Even frozen at $200 per credit, the state’s community college tuition rates are still the highest in the country.
Institutional
The Big Uneasy | All across Oberlin—a school whose norms may run a little to the left of Bernie Sanders—there was instead talk about “allyship”: a more contemporary answer to the challenges of pluralism.
Akron’s Controversial President Will Resign Immediately | Scott L. Scarborough, the controversial president of the University of Akron, will step down immediately, the university’s Board of Trustees announced on Tuesday.
London Met plans to cut 400 jobs in ‘rebuild’ vision | London Metropolitan University is set to shed almost 14 per cent of its staff under plans to move all its teaching to a single campus.
Chicago State University Forges Ahead Despite Financial Headwinds | The past year has not been an easy one for public universities and colleges in the state of Illinois. State legislators were locked in a stalemate over the 2016 fiscal year budget from July to April. As a result, public colleges and universities did not receive state appropriations during that period.