International
Minister looking for a revolution in accountability | A week after British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a year-long review of tertiary education, Sam Gyimah, the new universities minister, signalled that the government is committed to maintaining a funding system that relies on allowing universities to charge high tuition fees. He also indicated that government will press on with its drive towards the marketisation of higher education.
Putting universities to the test | [T]he OECD, in partnership with a handful of European universities, is currently undertaking another study to measure if universities do indeed add skills and knowledge to their students over the course of their degree studies. The assessment will take into account the set of skills with which students started their university studies and then try to measure the gains they made over the course of their degree programme.
Macron’s Education Revolution | France’s system of higher education is unique, owing to the deep divide between its universities and a few elite schools known as “grandes écoles.” The grandes écoles spend far more than the universities on each student, and thus provide far better career training…Macron, for his part, recognizes that this system will have to be transformed in order to tackle inequality and social immobility, and to spur more inclusive growth over the long term.
Women in Finland continue to outpace men in education | Finland can boast the third highest level of educated women among OECD countries. Over half of women aged 25-64 have a higher education degree, and at the moment women are completing 59 percent of all university degrees.
There Is No Case for the Humanities | The humanities are not just dying — they are almost dead. In Scotland, the ancient Chairs in Humanity (which is to say, Latin) have almost disappeared in the past few decades: abolished, left vacant, or merged into chairs of classics. The University of Oxford has revised its famed Literae Humaniores course, “Greats,” into something resembling a technical classics degree.
Increasing number of young students dropping out, figures show | New data also reveals that the likelihood of a student not continuing their studies depends heavily on where they study, with almost a fifth of students dropping out at some institutions, compared to virtually none at others. The figures, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), show that in 2015/16, 6.4% of full-time UK students aged under 21 taking their first degree did not continue their studies after their first year. This is up from 6.2% in 2014/15, and 5.7% in 2011/12.
U.S. National
The question of trust in science requires many answers | A new report on a survey by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), published last month, seeks to begin a process of informing academics on how to respond to this anti-intellectual trend. Its key finding is that any attempt to lump together the doubters of science on the many important subjects will impair an effective response.
OPINION: The Student Loan Debt Crisis Is a Civil Rights Issue | From attacks on voting rights to police killings of unarmed civilians and growing inequities in earnings and wealth, the civil rights gains of the past six decades are facing threat after threat. But one front in the fight for full equality—meaningful access to higher education—is particularly urgent. With 65 percent of jobs soon requiring more than a high school diploma, the need is greater than ever, especially for African Americans and other communities of color.
Leading in Turbulent Times: A Survey of Presidents | Only 13 percent of college and university presidents agree that “most Americans have an accurate view of the purpose of higher education,” and just 16 percent say the public has an accurate view of the purpose of their sector of higher education. The leaders of research institutions feel especially misunderstood: just 5 percent of presidents of public doctoral universities and 11 percent at private doctoral and master’s-level institutions say the public understands their sector, compared to 22 percent of community college leaders, for example.
Is college worth it? One professor says no. | There are plenty of reasons to think that Caplan has overreached in his gloomy conclusions. His book is full of clever but faulty logic and rhetorical straw men set up and easily knocked down. Many of his conclusions reflect the overconfidence of the social scientist who thinks everything that matters has been accurately measured in “the data,” and the narrow focus of the economist who confuses education and worker training.
U.S. States
Texas’s Big Bet on the Future of Higher Education | And institutions need infrastructure. Currently, data are siloed and not readily accessible. Data-driven decisionmaking is at a rudimentary level. Because of infrastructure problems, it is often impossible to offer courses that aren’t 3 credit hours in length.
Maine Voices: Higher education suffers most from its lack of affordability | There is little evidence that the political views of faculty have an influence on their students’ attitudes. And for those conservatives who choose to enter the academy, as students or as faculty, the data indicate they are not being discriminated against or subjected to unfair treatment, conservative political scientist Matthew Woessner and other scholars have found. In terms of scholarship, academic researchers of all political persuasions are trained to use methods that reduce or eliminate the influence of bias. The process of science balances open-mindedness with skepticism, and ultimately relies on the power of evidence.
EDITORIAL: School affordability defies conventional solutions | The long explanation provided by UMass President Marty Meehan in his state of the university system’s address on Monday came down to one undeniable conclusion: There’s no easy answer to the increasingly expensive price of a college education.
Missouri House budget plan offers relief for higher education | State law limits tuition increases for undergraduate Missouri residents to the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. For the coming academic year, the limit is 2.1 percent. Colleges and universities are agitating for a change in the law to allow tuition increases greater than inflation in years when state funding is cut.
Foundation Report Advises on College ‘Promise’ Programs | A report issued this week by a nonpartisan think tank suggests that states considering “free college” policies should avoid unfair cost-containment strategies, communicate with students and families and make bolder investments in higher education. The Century Foundation also found that the handful of states that have enacted so-called “promise” programs since 2014 have imposed significant eligibility requirements.
Institutional
How the university and the city are trying to solve Berkeley’s housing crisis | The affordable housing crisis is not an unfamiliar struggle in Berkeley. Students have been vocal about their experiences with homelessness, overcrowded spaces and outrageous rents for subpar living spaces.
How to improve transfer outcomes for community college students | Students who are most successful moving from two-year to four-year colleges — and earn degrees — attend community colleges that make transferring a priority, create clear programmatic pathways and provide tailored advising.
U. of Wisconsin at Stevens Point Proposes Cutting 13 Programs, Mostly in Liberal Arts | Administrators cited the campus’s $4.5-million deficit and declining enrollment as reasons for the cuts, according to the release. To increase enrollment, officials want to add 16 programs “in areas with high-demand career paths” such as computer information systems, finance, and chemical engineering, among many others.
Purdue Global’s Arrival | Purdue University Global has cleared its third and final regulatory hurdle, with the Higher Learning Commission following state and federal agencies in backing Purdue’s acquisition of the for-profit Kaplan University.
HBCUs’ Relevance in Diversifying the STEM Workforce | According to data from a recent NIH report, the number of African-Americans enrolled in STEM Ph.D. programs grew from 587 in 1985 to 2,373 in 2014. At first glance, this looks like a large increase, but it only represents a proportional change from 2.4 percent to 7.4 percent. The fact that the majority of STEM Ph.D.-holders begin their scientific training at HBCUs points to the critical education occurring in these institutions.
Teaching Newsletter: How One University Seeks to Shore Up the Sophomore Year | When freshmen arrive on Ohio State University’s campus for move-in day, they’re greeted by cheering students who cart their belongings up to their dorm rooms. But then, “you come back your sophomore year and it’s like, ‘Oh, hi, you’re back, good luck,’” says Vicki Pitstick, an administrator there.