By Colleen Flaherty. Full-time faculty member salaries are up 2.2 percent this year over last, outpacing the rate of inflation for the first time in five years. And faculty members who remained at the same institution earned pay bumps averaging 3.4 percent, according to a report out today from the American Association of University Professors. Although the report shows bigger salary gains for professors than any they've had in the last five years, it also makes clear that faculty pay remains below pre-recession levels and makes the case that higher education is continuing to prioritize spending on administration and athletics over instruction. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. The Obama administration on Monday formally launched a new consortium of colleges, employers and unions that is aimed at making it easier for students to turn their apprenticeship experience into academic credit. Colleges participating in the consortium must agree to provide academic credit to students who complete certain apprenticeship programs. The institutions pledge to follow the credit recommendations made by third-party evaluators, who translate the skills learned during an apprenticeship into credit hours. Read more...

By Scott Jaschik. Many a would-be graduate student has debated whether to enroll in a top-ranked program or another one that -- for reasons fair or unfair -- isn't so highly ranked but may seem a better fit. A study released here at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association suggests that there could be quantifiable evidence that prestige pays off. Read more...

By Elizabeth Redden. Chinese undergraduate students face challenges in adapting to American classroom practices and expectations but draw on personal, social, institutional and technological resources to respond to these challenges, according to articles presented by Tang T. Heng, a doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia University, at last week’s American Educational Research Association annual meeting. Read more...

By Ry Rivard. After surveying the fate of small private liberal arts colleges, Saint Michael's College in Vermont is now planning ahead for enrollment declines, inexpensive online classes for credit and debt-averse students and families. Read more...

By Colleen Flaherty. Professors work long days, on weekends, on and off campus, and largely alone. Responsible for a growing number of administrative tasks, they also do research more on their own time than during the traditional work week. The biggest chunk of their time is spent teaching. Read more...

By Jack Grove for Times Higher Education. The array of degrees achieved by deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych illustrates many of the country’s higher education problems. According to his C.V., Yanukovych holds a master’s degree in international law and a doctorate of science in economics – all achieved while he was serving as governor of the Donetsk Oblast region between 1997 and 2002. Although the degrees are valid, many have questioned their academic worth as few people remember the larger-than-life politician attending any classes or exams during this period. Read more...

By Carl Straumsheim. Faculty members and staffers at public institutions in Kansas have doubled down on a policy that protects their right to express their opinions on social media. The proposal now heads to the Kansas Board of Regents, where it faces uncertain prospects. The finalized policy follows a four-month effort by a workgroup of faculty and staff representatives from the state’s six public four-year institutions. The board ordered the formation of the workgroup after faculty outrage flared in response to a set of controversial social media guidelines proposed last December. Read more...

By Doug Lederman. An almost countless number of ideas for revamping accreditation have pinballed around Washington in recent years, as higher education's system of peer-reviewed institutional accountability has been bashed on the one hand for lax oversight of poor-performing institutions and on the other for overregulation and quashing innovation. Many of the ideas are either impractical (because they would cost too much to replace the volunteer-dependent system that is in place now) or politically unfeasible (because they would entail even more government involvement). Read more...

By Scott Jaschik. The glitches on the Common Application in the fall -- which left many applicants unable to submit their applications -- may be fixed. But why did they happen in the first place?
A report released Thursday by the Common Application summarized the findings of an independent consultant's report that tried to answer that question. Read more...