International
DA Says Zuma And His ‘Dubious Characters’ Must Pay For Tertiary Education | Political parties have raised concerns over government’s inability to resolve student fee crisis faced by the SA tertiary institutions for the past 10 months.
Rich should pay‚ while poor should be funded for higher education: Moseneke | Retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke has put his views on the crisis facing higher education in the country‚ suggesting that the solution should be more nuanced in an unequal society‚ requiring the rich to pay while the poor should be fully funded.
Brexit and the European shape of things to come in HE | There is a clear message in Brexit that no matter how international or European universities seek or claim to be, they operate in a national context that will define and, at times, constrain their mission, scope and activities.
New kinds of councils needed for evolving universities | As higher education globally continues to adapt to external economic, social and political pressures, universities in Ghana – and throughout Africa – are becoming increasingly cognisant of the need to review institutional governance, much like the University of Ghana did back in 2007.
AFTER THE “BREXIT” REFERENDUM: Possible outcomes for Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ (5 pages) | EUA stresses that UK universities will remain part of the family of European universities which goes beyond EU borders and it will continue to advocate for cooperation in research and education in the interest of all its members.
Study: Successful Students’ Focus not on Wealth | While research has established high school grades as the most reliable predictor of success in college, a new study of a large and diverse group of incoming freshman shines the light on a series of non-academic factors that also play a role.
OECD: countries’ fees must not ‘skyrocket’ past ‘price limit’ | Governments and universities must recognise that there is a “price limit” where tuition fee rises will start to hit student access, even in those nations with income-contingent loans, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s influential director for education and skills.
Student Lives in Crisis: Deepening Inequality in Times of Austerity, by Lorenza Antonucci | In the past year, the government has abolished student maintenance grants and NHS bursaries for student nurses, cut the Disabled Students’ Allowance, changed loan repayment terms so that graduates start paying back more, sooner, and is about to lift the cap on tuition fees in England.
U.S. National
Financial aid is not the answer to college affordability, research finds | Why are some students, especially those who are first generation college students or from low-income households, not applying for or consistently receiving financial aid? According to new research, the aid system must be redesigned to earn the trust of students and their families and to help them believe that it can make college affordable.
College Is Still the Promised Land for High-School Students | The vast majority of high-school students still dream of pursuing higher education, but once inside the pearly gates of college, the view from above is far from idyllic.
US universities bid to measure the value of internationalisation | One ongoing trend in the United States is the need to engage higher education leaders in conversations about three closely related themes: student learning outcomes; the assessment of such outcomes through some genuine demonstration of what the students are capable of; and the inequitable distribution of opportunities for students to develop their capabilities.
Gains in Minority Grad Student Enrollments | Graduate student enrollments increased nearly 4 percent last year, with the biggest relative gains seen among underrepresented minority groups.
U.S. States
Another Perspective: What matters most in improving our higher education outcomes | The debates about improving the performance of New Mexico’s institutions of higher education have sharpened recently as the state budget faces daunting shortfalls.
Cross talks college affordability as biennial budget looms | The cost of college remains on the minds of students, parents, campus administration and legislators alike as the UW System considers what it could face in Wisconsin’s next biennial budget, which Gov. Scott Walker will announce early spring semester.
With daunting long-term target, SUNY hails recent increase in degree completions | A year after the launch of the State University system’s Completion Agenda, the state is heralding an increase of 3,000 degrees awarded over the year before, for a total of almost 96,000. But SUNY campuses will need to pick up the pace in order to meet the state’s target of 150,000 degrees per year by 2025.
Calif. Community College Promise Programs Expanding | As they are currently organized, promise programs in the state vary widely. Some are “last-dollar” programs, covering the remaining cost of tuition and fees not already covered by grants or scholarships, and others provide other services, such as tutoring, or grants to pay for books and other costs associated with school.
Private college presidents talk cost, challenges at higher ed forum | Is college worth it? The presidents of six private North Carolina colleges say it is. Their biggest challenge is keeping it affordable to the middle class.
Smarter State Spending | State dollars for public higher education would go farther, prominent researchers argue, if more of it went to open-access colleges and need-based aid.
Retention improving at most Northeast Ohio colleges: See enrollment numbers | Northeast Ohio’s two- and four-year public and private colleges continue to attract new students, despite fewer high school graduates and more competition.
As economy rebounds, state funding for higher education isn’t bouncing back | Unlike after previous economic downturns, state spending on higher education has not bounced back as the economy rebounds. And in some states, a bigger and bigger share of what they do spend on public universities and colleges is going to such things as employee pensions, not instruction.
Institutional
Higher education battles at UNC, other schools featured in new documentary | The University of North Carolina system is featured in a new documentary about governance and funding crises in U.S. public higher education.
Somebody Else’s Problem | Report finds initiative fatigue and a lack of accountability, among other obstacles, are preventing colleges from improving student outcomes.
Higher Ed Gets Opportunity to Benchmark Diversity | Several institutions of higher learning — including Dartmouth College and the University of Missouri — are beginning to use the GDIB, a free online downloadable 80-page booklet, according to Love. It is sponsored by The Diversity Collegium.
Chicago Professors Fire Back | More than 150 faculty members at the University of Chicago on Tuesday published an open letter to freshmen in which they take a strikingly different approach from the official communication sent by a Chicago dean. Safe spaces and trigger warnings, the letter said, are legitimate topics for discussion and reflect the real needs of many students.
HSU enrollment skids as reforms take shape | Humboldt State University’s Fall 2016 enrollment figures are down 250 students from a year ago, accompanied by a loss in the freshmen-to-sophomore year retention rate.