International
Still rummaging for Higher Education’s transformation map | The tension is rising and the confusion growing as the transformation agenda dithers, thus creating more tempestuous waves in South African higher education.
University of Tokyo leads new Japan ranking of higher education institutions | The University of Tokyo was crowned the nation’s top university for teaching and learning environments in a first-ever Japan ranking by the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine, with Tohoku University in Miyagi Prefecture coming in second and Kyoto University placing third.
Agreement averts financial crisis at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa University | After months of deliberations between Gaza- and Ramallah-run education ministries, an agreement was reached March 29 ending the crisis at Al-Aqsa University in the Gaza Strip — the largest public university in the Palestinian territories. The crisis lasted for a year and a half and threatened the future of 1,000 employees and more than 27,000 students. |
U.S. National
Future Pell Grant Funding In Danger? | A proposed plan by President Donald J. Trump to take a total of $3.9 billion from the federal Pell Grant surplus is either “reckless or a spectacularly devious political play.”
Low-Income Students are Vulnerable in a Shifting College Access Landscape | College affordability and access has been a story of success and setbacks in recent years.
College Degree Completion and Home Ownership | Bachelor’s degree-holders enjoy homeownership more frequently than associate degree-holders do, and both bachelor’s- and associate degree-holders who graduate without any student loan debt enjoy home ownership at higher rates than their counterparts who graduate with debt.
Year-Round Pell’s Likely Return | Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress and the Trump White House back the reinstatement of year-round Pell eligibility, according to a wide range of sources. However, increased spending on the grants, which experts have estimated at $2 billion per year, likely would be offset by a cut of at least $1.2 billion to Pell’s current surplus of $10.6 billion.
Feeling Like Impostors | Those who suffer from impostor feelings cannot grasp or believe in their successes, even if they’re high achieving — leading them to feel like frauds. In the 1970s, impostor syndrome was first considered a trend among women who were advancing professionally, according to the American Psychological Association.
Study: Black Teachers Bolster Black Student Achievement | Having at least one Black teacher in the third through fifth grade “significantly reduces” the likelihood that Black male students will drop out of high school and increases the likelihood that both Black male and female students will aspire to attend a four-year college.
U.S. States
5 Pennsylvania Campuses Warn of Possible Faculty Layoffs and Program Cuts | Administrators at five Pennsylvania campuses notified the faculty union for the state’s public-university system that layoffs could be expected by the end of the 2017-18 academic year.
Consolidating Community Colleges | The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system is tumbling down an enrollment and funding cliff, landing it back in line for cuts and consolidations. The system’s president, Mark E. Ojakian… is recommending a systemwide consolidation of administrative and non-student-facing personnel. And he is recommending consolidating CSCU’s 12 community colleges into a single, centrally managed organization.
Funding cuts to higher education put revenue strain on OSU | State funding cuts to higher education are affecting the affordability of education at Oklahoma State University. Funding to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education was reduced by 15.9 percent for the 2017 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The state provided $810 million for higher education, compared to the $963 million it provided for the 2016 fiscal year.
Institutional
Cut to the Core | [I]n another blow to faculty morale and shared governance, professors say, the university’s Board of Trustees has imposed a credit cap and timeline for the typically faculty-driven curricular review process at both the Brooklyn and C.W. Post campuses.
Considering Mergers in Connecticut | Sacred Heart University, an 8,500-student university with its main campus in Fairfield, Conn., is entering a management agreement with St. Vincent’s College. St. Vincent’s, which mostly awards two-year degrees in nursing, is a much smaller college located about three miles away at St. Vincent’s Medical Center.
Postsecondary Success Starts in High School | According to data from ACT and states’ own assessments, only about one-third of high-school students are performing at college-ready levels by the end of 11th grade. This gap represents an opportunity to build focused programs that tackle preparation before students graduate high school.
Howard U faculty leaders vote no confidence in university president. But some say vote was flawed. | Citing concerns about financial problems, lack of transparency and failures of leadership, the faculty council, a leadership group of the full faculty senate, voted no confidence in Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick and Provost Anthony Wutoh on Friday, according to the chairman of the faculty senate, Taft Broome.
Colleges Could Start Using “Adversity Index” | The new tool — being developed and refined by the College Board and currently in use among 20 or so schools on a pilot basis — comes at a time when colleges and universities are in continual search of ways to diversify their incoming classes within the context of a legal framework that has increasingly restricted the use of race-conscious affirmative action in the admission process.
Expert: Career-based Courses Could Help Diversify STEM Workforce | Many speakers — including Wu — stressed the need for higher education and business to collaborate to build a diverse workforce. Wu said it’s important for colleges to produce graduates who are not just well-versed in one subject but who are also “broad across the top” in order to help corporations, such as IBM confront complex challenges in a given societal context.