International
South African universities are in crisis. Tech could have the answer | Over the same time period that South Africa’s university crisis has been escalating, the country’s e-learning space has been developing rapidly.
Higher education trends to watch in 2017 | At the start of 2017, a selection of scholars and experts share their views on the major trends expected to impact higher education in the Arab world’s 22 states, which includes 10 countries in Africa.
Indicators show flagship African universities on rise | Research outputs are surging along with masters and doctoral graduate numbers, student-to-staff ratios are comparable to elsewhere in the world, the percentage of academics with PhDs is expanding and top universities are shifting evermore towards research.
Why most universities should quit the rankings game | We have one simple argument: universities around the world, many more than will ever publicly admit it, are currently obsessed with gaining status in one or more national or global ranking of universities. They should quit now.
University rankings are innovating and improving | We welcome scrutiny of all university rankings and can agree with some of the opinions put forward by Bahram Bekhradnia for discussion in the recent Higher Education Policy Institute or HEPI report, International University Rankings: For good or ill?.
International education in 2017 – Any room for optimism? | Increasing political instability and the surge of national-populist appeal around the world calls into question the values and ethics that international educators have strived for over so many years.
Hard Brexit Could Send Higher Education into Crisis | Several of Britain’s top academics have warned that a ‘hard Brexit’ could mean the ‘biggest disaster’ in higher education for decades.
New local university ranking system in place | In a bid to enhance national and international competitiveness, the Higher Education Accreditation Commission (HEAC) on Monday launched a system of national ranking for Jordanian universities.
U.S. National
Moody’s Reaches $864 Million Subprime Ratings Settlement | Both Moody’s Investors Service, a unit of Moody’s Corp., and S&P played key roles in Wall Street’s making of toxic, subprime mortgage bonds.
Education ‘stakes have never been higher’ | Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell delivered his final speech as a senior member of the Obama administration on Thursday morning at Northeastern University, saying that innovation in higher education is critical to the success of the nation’s democracy.
The Case for Rebranding Minority-serving Institutions | While not yet a complete misnomer in the national demographic context, which is projected by the U.S. Census to become more than 50 percent non-White by 2044, “minority” has already reached a breaking point when used to describe the U.S. public school student population, which became “majority-minority” in 2014.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Sues Nation’s Largest Student-Loan Servicer | The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing Navient, the country’s largest servicer of federal and private student loans, for failing borrowers during every stage of repayment, the federal agency said on Wednesday in a news release.
New ‘Common Rule’ for Research | The federal government on Wednesday issued a new 543-page rule to govern the way researchers study human subjects.
Uneven Access, Equal Success | Although students who come from wealthy backgrounds are far more likely to attend highly selective colleges than students from poor families, rich and poor students who go to the same college will achieve equal financial success, a new study from the Equality of Opportunity Project found.
Publishing’s Prestige Bias | Research suggests that academic jobs in a variety of fields overwhelming go to graduates of elite academic departments, and that those graduates don’t necessarily end up being the most productive researchers. A new study argues that academic publishing — at a least in the humanities — is guilty of the same bias, choosing papers based on where they come from over what they say.
U.S. States
Two Tuition-Free Years | Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo plans today to propose that the state offer two tuition-free years for full-time students in public higher education.
Virginians’ Views on Higher Education No Longer an Academic Question | According to a poll released today by Partners 4 Affordable Excellence @EDU, Virginia voters – in fact, more than 85 percent – believe improving the affordability and accessibility of Virginia’s public colleges and universities would help solve one of the state’s thorniest problems: its sluggish economy.
Are the days of cheap college in Missouri ending? Budget crisis will test it | Missouri’s four-year universities had a deal with the state that started about 10 years ago… But a state budget crisis could test how much longer that deal, a 2007 tuition cap law, with higher education will continue.
Governor’s big dodge on student loan debt crisis | There are 43 million Americans with over $1.4 trillion in student loan debt, including nearly 1 million Wisconsinites with over $19 billion in federal student loan debt alone.
Institutional
Morehouse Students, Faculty Shut Out of Process of Ousting President | The decision of the Morehouse College Board of Trustees not to renew the contract of Morehouse President John Wilson in its meeting over the weekend was not unexpected, given grumblings about Wilson’s perceived heavy-handed tactics when it came to personnel matters. What was seemingly unexpected, however, was the exclusion of student and faculty trustees from the meeting at which the decision was made.
UVA Expands Financial Aid Program for Middle-Income Virginians, Increases In-State Enrollment | The University of Virginia Board of Visitors today announced the authorization of the “Cornerstone Grant,” an initiative providing significant cost-of-attendance relief to qualifying middle-income, full-time Virginia undergraduate students.
Conference Tackles ‘Crisis’ in Catholic Higher Education 50 Years After ‘Land O’ Lakes’ | The Cardinal Newman Society and the Institute of Catholic Culture (ICC) will present a unique conference this month featuring the presidents of four faithful Catholic colleges who will discuss the crisis in Catholic education “under attack from the secularist agenda set forth 50 years ago” by the disastrous “Land O’ Lakes Statement.”