International
University Education Leads to Enriched Lives | Scholars generally cite the University of Al Quaraouiyine, which was founded in Morocco in 859, as the oldest degree-granting university. It was during the Medieval period, universities gained in popularity as essential for educating a populace that can solve problems and contribute to civil society.
What contribution has internationalisation made to HE? | In 1995, we co-wrote “Strategies for Internationalisation of Higher Education: Historical and Conceptual Perspectives” as the introductory chapter of what can be considered the first comparative international study on internationalisation strategies, building on a small number of previous studies emanating primarily from American and European sources. Since then, while the meanings, rationales and approaches to internationalisation have evolved, as has the context in which it is taking place, the foundation for the study of internationalisation has not substantively changed. Internationalisation has become a very broad and varied concept, including many new rationales, approaches and strategies in different and constantly changing contexts.
A catalyst for institutional transformation | In Russia, the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO has developed an innovative method for instigating and accelerating university-wide change processes, which it has now used in more than 20 universities – mostly those taking part in one of Russia’s excellence initiatives – with significant success.
Spending on education high but results still low says report (updated) | “At 6 per cent of GDP in 2016, public spending on education remains well above the EU average of 4.7 per cent,” the report on Education and Training in Europe said. “Measured as a share of total government expenditure, Cyprus spent 15.6 per cent on education in 2016, more than any other EU country”…However, “Cyprus has an education system with low effectiveness, since spending is high but educational outcomes (i.e. the knowledge, skills and abilities students attain as measured by the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), are low.”
The crisis of higher education | It has been four decades now since the ban on students unions, and we’re in the second decade of the full-blown privatisation of the higher education sector. It has been a downhill journey ever since.
U.S. National
To Find the Best Fit, Ignore the Rankings | A new study from researchers at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education examines all of the evidence about rankings and comes to this conclusion: the best way to find a college that is a “good fit” is to ignore the rankings.
Prices Level Off — for Now | Adjusting for inflation, the average price for a year at a public two-year college dropped $10, or 0.3 percent, from $3,670 to $3,660, according to new findings from the College Board, which reports annually on both college pricing and student aid. The figure represents the first drop in two-year college pricing since 2008-09, near the beginning of the Great Recession. Four-year public institutions saw a similar small price drop, from $10,270 to $10,230, or 0.4 percent, the first downturn since the College Board began publishing tuition and fee data in 1990. Private four-year colleges’ average tuition and fees rose 0.3 percent, from $35,720 to $35,830.
No Regrets | A large majority of humanities Ph.D.s believe that their graduate programs prepared them well for their eventual jobs, academic or not, especially over time. And all those jobs appear to require many of the same kinds of skills, according to a new report from the Council of Graduate Schools. A majority of Ph.D.s surveyed as part of the council’s research also said they would pursue a doctorate in the same general field if they had to do it all over again…
Here’s Fresh Evidence Student Loans Are a Massive, Generational Scam | All that debt provides awfully little payoff in terms of boosted wages, even as it ensnares more and more people and hits youth of color especially hard, according to a new paper released Tuesday by two researchers at the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute. Research fellows Julie Margetta Morgan and Marshall Steinbaum concluded that more and more debt hasn’t significantly boosted income for college grads—it just seems that way because high school grads without BAs are making less than they once did.
U.S. States
Higher education resources | Here are some new resources and news for the field of higher education. [A periodic newsletter from Emilie Shoop at Illinois State University that is more broad than the state’s higher education.]
Regents not doing enough to control college tuition increases, audit says | The Utah State Board of Regents is not adequately controlling tuition increases at the state’s eight public colleges and universities, according to a legislative audit made public on Monday. The performance audit conducted by the Office of the Utah Legislative Auditor General says tuition has increased by nearly $132 million over the past five years.
Setting Out to Fix Major Flaws in the Way New Jersey Funds Higher Education | New Jersey colleges and universities have long been running on a flawed state funding system that doesn’t incentivize student achievement or do much to support minority students, according to education analysts. The solution, they say, is a new strategic funding plan tied to student outcomes.
UNM moves closer to Common Course Numbering | Beginning next fall, courses at The University of New Mexico will begin showing new Common Course Numbering (CCN) in compliance with the State of New Mexico’s Higher Education Department (HED) to standardize common courses among the state’s higher education institutions.
Ga. colleges: Affordability a growing problem for low-income students | A group of education reporters and editors recently created a website to track how much money students from different income brackets are paying to attend college. One immediate takeaway from the folks who created the free site, called TuitionTracker.org: Students from lower-income families are paying more for college than they were a few years ago.
Institutional
Analysis: ACICS-Accredited College Students Have Negative Outcomes | Students who attend schools approved by the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) are twice as likely as their counterparts at other schools to end up with unmanageable debt, according to a Veterans Education Success analysis released Friday.
Oberlin Prepares for Re-accreditation | The Review received a summary of Oberlin’s Assurance Argument, spanning six pages. In the final section (“Resources, Planning and Institutional Effectiveness”), the document states, “As reflected in the FY 2017 audited financial statements, Oberlin College’s financial condition continues to be very solid.” Despite the confident statement, concern over the College’s financial future circles the administration.
Chinese Companies Seek to Buy U.S. Campuses | “This American college will be taken over by a corporation that is owned and controlled by the government of China, which does not recognize any degree of academic freedom and which has a state policy subordinating colleges to governmental and Communist Party principles. It is diametrically contrary to the understanding of an American institution of higher education,” Afran said.
Asking Essential Questions at Ursinus | Ursinus College’s Common Intellectual Experience has long been one of its crown jewels. So when it came time to rethink Ursinus’s core curriculum, it seemed natural to draw inspiration from the yearlong sequence, which asks freshmen to ponder some of life’s biggest questions with readings that stretch from Plato and Sappho to Ta-Nehisi Coates and Alison Bechdel.
Prioritizing Diversity in Graduate Education | During my time at Purdue University, and now at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), I’ve had the privilege of working with great people and helping to develop and oversee several diversity initiatives. One of these initiatives was the Diversity Transformation Awards at Purdue, which distributed $1 million in funding for nine faculty diversity projects. Not only did the program energize the conversation around diversity at Purdue, it also inspired creative approaches to improving recruiting and retention of both underrepresented (URM) students and URM professors.
Placing ‘Purpose First’ in Higher Education | The report “Shared Beliefs and Practices for Putting Purpose First in American Higher Education” promotes high-impact practices that institutions can implement such as conducting career and interests assessments, providing labor market data to students, creating academic pathways that enable career exploration and focusing on proactive advising to build students’ momentum to degree completion and career. Such strategies can empower students to make informed choices and “become authentic owners of their own career aspirations,” the report said.