International
Do Student Loans Kill Dreams? | Higher-education institutes (HEIs) across Ireland are facing a major funding crisis. The Cassells’ report, published in March of last year by an expert group, concluded an increase of €600 million in funding annually would be needed by 2021, and a further increase of €I billion would be needed by 2030.
Universities look to the US general education model | United States ideas of higher education, including general education, have been exported to East Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan since the end of World War II… In recent years, the US general education model has also emerged with surprising prevalence and gained high status in mainland China and Hong Kong.
Why Europe needs an HE learning and teaching forum | The European University Association or EUA’s forthcoming TRENDS 2018 report points to the crucial importance of exchange and collaboration in higher education. Compared to the strong emphasis on research, research excellence and innovation, developments in learning and teaching have tended to receive far less attention, both within universities and in public discussions.
What Does the Catalonian Debate Mean for Universities? | Catalan education minister Clara Ponsati recently suggested that succession would bring the opportunity to “shake up” the higher education sector in several ways, including an increase in international recruitment of faculty, the elimination of underperforming faculty, and the ability to take on debt toward a “more flexible system” positioned for “competition and excellence.”
Guidance suggests TEF is now about government priorities, not teaching | The temptation to create a set of metrics that reflects government priorities rather than teaching quality was always a danger in the use of a centrally devised set of metrics. This danger is now beginning to be realised.
Universities ‘generate £95 billion for UK economy’ | UK universities generate £95 billion for the country’s economy and support more than 940,000 jobs across the nation, according to an analysis from Universities UK.
A generation in debt: Millennials might still be paying off student debt at 50, according to recent findings | Data released by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) on 21 August 2017 revealed that a total of 461,860 people have been placed in full-time UK higher education establishments. This was accompanied by an increase in tuition fees, rising from a maximum of £3,375 to £9,000 a year in 2012 and from £9,000 to £9,250 in 2017.
Macron’s Vision for a New Type of European University | By 2024, the French president said, Europe should have “at least 20” of what he called “European universities,” offering students the chance to “study abroad and take classes in at least two different languages.” These European universities will help to “create a sense of belonging” that will be the “strongest cement for Europe,” a later press release argued.
U.S. National
Documenting What Ph.D.s Do for a Living | If you’re teaching a graduate seminar with eight students in it, only two of them, on average, will become full-time faculty members.
New Federal Data Show a Student Loan Crisis for African American Borrowers | Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education provided the first-ever look at long-term outcomes for student loan borrowers, including results by race and ethnicity. The data show that 12 years after entering college, the typical African American* student who started in the 2003-04 school year and took on debt for their undergraduate education owed more on their federal student loans than they originally borrowed.
The University Is Not a Technology | Ph.D.s from the top 10 graduate programs “account for just over half of all articles published… By limiting the circulation of ideas to a precious few institutional frameworks,” they suggest, the academy limits its ability “to create and share different kinds of knowledge, new kinds of knowledge, and more diverse kinds of knowledge.”
Two Higher Education Goals Deferred | “Challenges and Opportunities in Achieving the National Postsecondary Degree Attainment Goals,” a new research report authored by Michael Nettles of Educational Testing Service (ETS), follows the United States’ progress toward meeting attainment goals that were set by the U.S. government and the Lumina Foundation in 2009. These goals were considered by many to be unrealistic when they were proposed. The report provides evidence that supports such skepticism—the country is not on track to reach either mark—and includes data and analyses that stakeholders might use to inform well-designed policies for future degree production efforts.
New Data Highlight How Higher Education Is Failing Part-Time Students | For the first time, the federal government has published data on the outcomes of students who begin their college career studying part-time. The data are clear: American higher education needs to do a better job helping these students get through college. Just less than 25 percent of part-time students receive a degree or certificate within eight years from the college where they first enrolled.
U.S. States and Territories
Nevada higher education system reform tackles administrative bloat | A PowerPoint description of the objectives of the Nevada higher education reforms favored by Sen. Joyce Woodhouse (D-Henderson) and Assemblyman Elliot Anderson (D-Las Vegas) said the plan would allow regents and the legislature to review both policies and funding priorities at individual campuses.
An Era of Neglect | The story of public higher education’s transition from a key national priority to an increasingly neglected special interest is untidy… Rather, it is the story of dozens and dozens of consequential moves made by individual actors across the country.
Puerto Rico’s next crisis — brain drain | Educational attainment of a population is key to industrial development. Puerto Rico has a literacy rate of 94 percent. It awards about 50,000 undergraduate and graduate degrees a year. And not surprisingly, it is estimated that 97 percent of these cannot find employment because there is no market demand for their services. This social capital, then becomes part of the exodus to the mainland.
Memo to Next Governor: Appoint Blue Ribbon Panel on Higher Education | New Jersey’s next governor needs to raise the profile of higher education, provide more funding for colleges and low-income students, and bring the public back into the process of higher education planning and oversight, urges a new report.
Funding plan for higher-ed in state taking shape | Act 148 of 2017 changed the way Arkansas funds higher education institutions from one based largely on enrollment to one based on students’ progress through and completion of certificate or degree programs. The change was in response to the state’s higher education master plan, which set goals of increasing the percentage of Arkansans who hold technical certificates and higher degrees to 60 percent by 2025.
Institutional
Will Fury Over Harvey Weinstein Allegations Change Academe’s Handling of Harassment? | As the sordid saga of the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has played out in the national news media, it has evoked parallels with the sexual harassment that critics contend is pervasive in academe, particularly in male-dominated academic departments.