You’d be forgiven for thinking higher-education reporting is a
game of billion-dollar bingo, with each aspect of the beat pegged
to insane sums, such as the $1.3 trillion in student loan debt.
One way of answering whether students are getting a fair shake is
to see if the colleges that educate them are spending the
institution’s resources in ways that enable more college-goers to
afford the cost of a postsecondary degree.
With 52 data points over 52 weeks, the University of Pennsylvania
Center for
Minority-Serving Institutions hopes to raise public awareness
about these types of colleges and the return on
investment they can offer.
Millions of high school graduates show up for the first day of
college academically unprepared for the rigors of higher ed. And
that’s where remedial (or “developmental”) education comes into
play. Students don’t get academic credit for these classes even
though they still cost them in time and money. And there’s
another problem: being placed in even one remedial class as a
freshman — particularly at a community college — can
significantly reduce a student’s odds of ever completing a
degree.
The number of Hispanics taking the ACT exam jumped 50 percent
from 2011 to 2015. But only 15 percent of those test takers
are scoring well enough to be deemed college-ready in all four
subjects, compared to 28 percent of other students.
These figures starkly reflect “the gap between the level of
aspiration and the level of readiness” required to thrive in
college, said Juan Garcia,
senior director of the ACT’s Office for the Advancement of
Underserved Learners.
Margarita is a four-year-old girl living in East Harlem. She
speaks Spanish at home with her Mexican-born parents, is
obedient, well-behaved and plays well with kids her age,
younger and older.
The Obama administration is rolling out an experimental program
that will allow employers and training programs to partner with
accredited universities to teach students work-related skills.
This pilot will enable students to receive federal financial aid
for programs such as coding boot camps that typically are
ineligible for these funds.
Call them the top four percent: elite private colleges and
universities that together sit atop three-quarters of the higher
education terrain’s endowment wealth.
Among that group of 138 of the nation’s wealthiest colleges and
universities, four in five charge poor students so much that
they’d need to surrender 60 percent or more of their household
incomes just to attend, even after financial aid is considered.
Nearly half have enrollment rates of low-income students that
place them in the bottom 5 percent nationally for such
enrollment.
Do more public dollars flow to higher-income students attending
public universities?
Some critics of the current public higher education model say
that because wealthier students are more likely to attend
top-tier public universities, which are better funded than other
public institutions, these well-off students essentially receive
a generous taxpayer-funded subsidy. Such critics also point to
the fact that lower-income students tend to enroll at
less-selective colleges that receive far less state support.
The California Community Colleges Board of Governors voted
unanimously this week to appoint Eloy Ortiz Oakley as the
system’s next chancellor. This decision marks the first time a
Latino has been at the helm of the 113-college system, where
Hispanic students make up 42 percent of the student
population and represented nearly half of all new students last
fall.
Hayleigh Colombo of the Indianapolis Business Journal for EWA
Inside Higher Ed Editor Scott Jaschik started his annual listing
of higher education stories ripe for coverage this upcoming year
by asking journalists to do better when choosing which news
developments to cover.
In May, just before Jaschik’s presentation at the Education
Writers Association’s conference in Boston, President Obama’s
daughter Malia had recently committed to attending Harvard
University and taking a “gap year.”
That’s what Republicans promise in the higher education platform
they’ll finalize at their national convention in Cleveland: an
approach that follows the direction they’ve already taken in
Congress.
Fewer regulations for colleges and universities. Less red tape
for students.
Less money.
“Obviously what we do legislatively is a statement of our
philosophy and our principles,” said Virginia Foxx, Republican
chair of the House subcommittee that oversees higher education
and co-chair of the GOP platform committee.
In 2015, the Senate committee that oversees education held a
hearing on ways colleges could help students amass less debt.
With postsecondary debt hovering at around $1.3 trillion, any
little bit can help.
Analyzing College Endowments: Do’s and Don’ts
You’d be forgiven for thinking higher-education reporting is a game of billion-dollar bingo, with each aspect of the beat pegged to insane sums, such as the $1.3 trillion in student loan debt.
One way of answering whether students are getting a fair shake is to see if the colleges that educate them are spending the institution’s resources in ways that enable more college-goers to afford the cost of a postsecondary degree.
Year-Long Campaign to Highlight ROI of Minority-Serving Institutions
With 52 data points over 52 weeks, the University of Pennsylvania Center for Minority-Serving Institutions hopes to raise public awareness about these types of colleges and the return on investment they can offer.
Same As It Ever Was: The Pitfalls of Remedial Education
EWA Radio: Episode 88
Millions of high school graduates show up for the first day of college academically unprepared for the rigors of higher ed. And that’s where remedial (or “developmental”) education comes into play. Students don’t get academic credit for these classes even though they still cost them in time and money. And there’s another problem: being placed in even one remedial class as a freshman — particularly at a community college — can significantly reduce a student’s odds of ever completing a degree.
Ensuring College Readiness and Success for Latino Students
The number of Hispanics taking the ACT exam jumped 50 percent from 2011 to 2015. But only 15 percent of those test takers are scoring well enough to be deemed college-ready in all four subjects, compared to 28 percent of other students.
These figures starkly reflect “the gap between the level of aspiration and the level of readiness” required to thrive in college, said Juan Garcia, senior director of the ACT’s Office for the Advancement of Underserved Learners.
From Pre-K to Higher Ed: Inequities Latino Students Face
Margarita is a four-year-old girl living in East Harlem. She speaks Spanish at home with her Mexican-born parents, is obedient, well-behaved and plays well with kids her age, younger and older.
Coding Boot Camps Join Forces With Universities in New Federal Program
The Obama administration is rolling out an experimental program that will allow employers and training programs to partner with accredited universities to teach students work-related skills. This pilot will enable students to receive federal financial aid for programs such as coding boot camps that typically are ineligible for these funds.
The ‘$500 Million Club’ of Colleges Tends to Be Stingy With Aid to Low-Income Students
Call them the top four percent: elite private colleges and universities that together sit atop three-quarters of the higher education terrain’s endowment wealth.
Among that group of 138 of the nation’s wealthiest colleges and universities, four in five charge poor students so much that they’d need to surrender 60 percent or more of their household incomes just to attend, even after financial aid is considered. Nearly half have enrollment rates of low-income students that place them in the bottom 5 percent nationally for such enrollment.
Study: Rich College Students Don’t Receive More State Money Than Poor Students
Do more public dollars flow to higher-income students attending public universities?
Some critics of the current public higher education model say that because wealthier students are more likely to attend top-tier public universities, which are better funded than other public institutions, these well-off students essentially receive a generous taxpayer-funded subsidy. Such critics also point to the fact that lower-income students tend to enroll at less-selective colleges that receive far less state support.
Calif. Community College System Gets First Latino Boss
The California Community Colleges Board of Governors voted unanimously this week to appoint Eloy Ortiz Oakley as the system’s next chancellor. This decision marks the first time a Latino has been at the helm of the 113-college system, where Hispanic students make up 42 percent of the student population and represented nearly half of all new students last fall.
Seven Higher Ed Stories Journalists Should Be Covering This Year
Inside Higher Ed Editor Scott Jaschik started his annual listing of higher education stories ripe for coverage this upcoming year by asking journalists to do better when choosing which news developments to cover.
In May, just before Jaschik’s presentation at the Education Writers Association’s conference in Boston, President Obama’s daughter Malia had recently committed to attending Harvard University and taking a “gap year.”
The Republican Plan For Higher Education: Less Red Tape And Less Money
Past is prologue.
That’s what Republicans promise in the higher education platform they’ll finalize at their national convention in Cleveland: an approach that follows the direction they’ve already taken in Congress.
Fewer regulations for colleges and universities. Less red tape for students.
Less money.
“Obviously what we do legislatively is a statement of our philosophy and our principles,” said Virginia Foxx, Republican chair of the House subcommittee that oversees higher education and co-chair of the GOP platform committee.
Taking More Courses May Help Solve the College Debt Crisis
In 2015, the Senate committee that oversees education held a hearing on ways colleges could help students amass less debt. With postsecondary debt hovering at around $1.3 trillion, any little bit can help.