International
The Structure of Instructure | As the LMS provider prepares to go public, financial disclosures show the company has spent on sales and marketing at a much higher rate than competitors — but has rapid growth to show for it.
No crisis, no need for higher fees, says UNSW vice-chancellor Ian Jacobs | Australia’s higher education system is not in crisis and there is no compelling case for students to pay more for a degree, the vice-chancellor of one of the nation’s most prestigious universities says.
Africa: Moving Beyond Africa’s Crisis of Institutions | Since independence, most African states have struggled to develop effective institutions that are responsive to the governance and development needs of their respective societies.
New student champion to make sure undergraduates get ‘value for money’ | As part of this new drive to make universities more accountable the Government is planning to launch a new student champion and regulator that would have new powers requiring universities to release data to better inform students.
Higher education Green Paper: what it means for teaching | Despite the flurry of debate surrounding the release of the government’s latest higher education missive, there are few surprises in the policy proposals.
What Google’s New Open-Source Software Means for Artificial-Intelligence Research | Google wants the artificial-intelligence software that drives the company’s Internet searches to become the standard platform for computer-science scholars in their own experiments.
When Free Speech Becomes a Political Weapon | All too often, when people depict others as threats to freedom of speech, what they really mean is, “Quiet!”
U.S. National
Value of ED’s College Ratings Tool Lost on Academics | When President Obama initially declared the Department of Education would issue a ratings system for colleges and universities to help parents and prospective students find the best “value” for the money they spend on education, the ambitious idea raised eyebrows across the higher education landscape.
U.S. to Put New Requirements on Accreditors | The U.S. Department of Education plans to announce on Friday a narrow set of new requirements for the nation’s higher-education accreditors, the private, nonprofit organizations that serve as the gatekeepers to billions of dollars in federal student aid.
Author examines social mobility, higher education in US | American author, essayist and social critic Peter Sacks examined the relationship between class and its influence on the American college experience, as well as colleges’ current relationship with social mobility, in a lecture Thursday night.
A Right, Not a Luxury | Fifty years ago this month, President Lyndon B. Johnson stood in the gymnasium of Texas State University, his alma mater, and signed a landmark piece of legislation that he said would “swing open a new door for the young people of America.”
Between Consortia and Mergers | A new report recommends a form of strategic alliance among colleges that is more substantive than consortia but less likely to fail than outright marriages.
Racial Disparities in Higher Education: an Overview | Racism on American campuses is a matter of national concern again this week following protests at the University of Missouri at Columbia that led on Monday to the resignations of both the campus’s chancellor and the system’s president.
Where Are All the Black College Faculty? | Remarkably, 96 percent of Black tenured faculty are at HBCUs (even though HBCUs comprise only 3 percent of the nation’s 3000 colleges and universities).
U.S. States
Why is enrollment falling at Rider and other N.J. private colleges? | A NJ Advance Media analysis of state enrollment data shows most of New Jersey’s traditional, private four-year colleges and universities have lost students since 2009.
University of Missouri President Resigns Amid Protests | System President Tim Wolfe resigned Monday afternoon, amid protests and calls for his resignation from the student body, faculty, state legislators and even the football team.
Many Iowans struggle to pay off their college loans | Concerns over student debt levels among the public universities led the Iowa Board of Regents to freeze resident undergraduate tuition for the past 2½ years and to call for a system-wide efficiency review.
Draconian cuts? Ohio students protest higher education costs | Students from more than 100 campuses, including some in Ohio, are joining a national day of action demanding tuition-free public college, cancellation of all student debt and a $15 minimum wage for campus workers.
Institutional
Wittenberg University president to step down | The Wittenberg University president has resigned just weeks after the school said it will cut at least $6.5 million from its budget.
Are Elite College Courses Better? | The public — and heck, many people in higher education — widely assume prestigious colleges and universities provide the best quality education.
Richer Data on College Applicants Help the Prospects of Low-Income Students | Systematically providing selective colleges with detailed information about applicants’ high-school backgrounds could significantly raise the admission rates of low-income students, a new study concludes.
Free College | On November 12, 2015, hundreds of college and high school campuses across the country will participate in the Million Student March, a national day of action led by students, alumni, campus workers and families as a response to the urgent higher education crisis.
Million Student March: UCSB Students to March for Progressive Higher Education Reforms | A coalition of student-led campus organizations at the University of California, Santa Barbara have spent the last couple of months preparing to participate in a nationwide demonstration known as the Million Student March.