By Jake New. Low-cost online courses could allow a more-diverse group of students to try college, but a new study suggests that such courses could also widen achievement gaps among students in different demographic groups.
The study, which is described in a working paper titled “Adaptability to Online Learning: Differences Across Types of Students and Academic Subject Areas,” was conducted by Columbia University’s Community College Research Center. The researchers examined 500,000 courses taken by more than 40,000 community- and technical-college students in Washington State. They found that students in demographic groups whose members typically struggle in traditional classrooms are finding their troubles exacerbated in online courses. Read more...

By Eric Hoover. This weary planet might not need yet another set of college rankings, but new models keep popping up. The latest is a rating of colleges based on their “desirability,” as determined by the choices applicants make.
In a new paper published by The Quarterly Journal of Economics, four researchers propose a method of ranking colleges according to students’ “revealed preferences”—the institutions they choose to attend over others that have accepted them. Using survey data from a national sample of high-achieving students, the researchers determined the winners and losers of each applicant’s “matriculation tournament.” They then used those outcomes to rank about 100 selective colleges. Harvard University topped the list, but you already knew that; the University of Notre Dame nearly cracked the top 10. Read more...

By Diane Lambart Fleming. For several years I have been wrestling with social media as a means of communicating financial-aid information to enrolled students. Years ago colleges and universities depended on the printed word to provide information, request action by a student, or both. With the advent of e-mail, the printed word has become almost obsolete. Electronic communication became an acceptable and, more important, legal mode of communication, at least as far as the U.S. Department of Education was concerned. We have e-award letters, e-verification documents, e-satisfactory-academic-progress notifications, e-Master Promissory Notes, and more, all of which have received the blessing of the department.
Now, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are all the rage. We are told that students do not pay attention to letters or e-mails. Goodness, they don’t even answer their cellphones anymore! Unless one sends a message to a student via Facebook or Twitter, it will go ignored. Recently Pope Benedict XVI’s use of Facebook and Twitter was cited as the best way to communicate with the masses—or at least those who are technologically savvy. Read more...

By Nikhil Ravishankar. Rahul Sharma was extremely unsure of whether he wanted to pursue physics or psychology. On one hand, he knew that the future of neuroscience lay in Physics. On the other, he knew that psychology would fulfil his immediate goal of studying the mind . Giving to parental pressure, he opted for Physics, abandoning his dream to pursue Psychology.
This, the problem of choice, is perhaps one of the biggest problems plaguing higher education in India. While there are definitely bigger problems related to access to education, increasing tuition fees and outdated syllabi, this is the one that will make the biggest impact in the next few decades.One might argue that parental pressure and problems of choice are factors about which nothing can be done by the government and universities. Fortunately, the argument does not hold good, because the solution to this problem lies in one phrase: ‘Liberal Arts’. Read more...

By Dany Louise. They became increasingly anxious about their prospects – so universities redoubled efforts to make their graduates employable. When tuition fees tripled last year, with many universities setting their rates at the highest possible amount of £9,000, arts professionals in the country held their breath.
Would the introduction of higher fees create a "dearth of training for people who don't have independent wealth or rich parents", as actor Clare Higgins put it?
The truth is, it's still hard to pinpoint the impact of last year's fee rises. Although applications to creative arts and design course fell by about 15% in 2011-12, this year's Ucas figures show some signs of a recovery. The number of students hoping to study art and design in September is up 2.4%. Read more...

By Tamar Lewin. Over the last year, elite American universities have raced to stake out a place in the new world of free online courses — and now, universities around the globe are following suit.
This week, the two largest ventures providing what are known as MOOCs — massive open online courses — are announcing new partnerships with leading universities in Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, Singapore, Japan and Australia, and signing additional American universities.
Coursera, founded by two Stanford University computer professors, is adding 29 universities — including École Polytechnique in France, the National University of Singapore, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and National Autonomous University of Mexico — to its current 33 partners. Read more...

By Tamar Lewin. Stanford last year became the first university to raise more than $1 billion in a single year, according to the Council for Aid to Education’s annual college fund-raising survey.
Partly because of large donations from entrepreneurial alumni who have made their fortunes in Silicon Valley, Stanford has been the top fund-raiser for eight straight years.
Last year, the university, near Palo Alto, said its five-year capital campaign, which ended in December 2011, had taken in a record-setting $6.23 billion, far exceeding its original goal of $4.3 billion, and surpassing by more than $2 billion any other single higher-education campaign. Read more...

Sur Mode(s) d'emploi. Les métiers invisibles, le marché caché de l'emploi?
Et si la vie n'était pas vraiment ce qu'elle semble être? Si nos gestes quotidiens, machinaux, cachaient une multitude de métiers ingrats et invisibles, une mécanique souterraine inconnue et msytérieuse ? Voilà ce que ça donnerait: une vidéo très drôle, réalisée par le collectif Suricate pour le site Golden Moustache. Une idée qui n'est pas sans rappeler une excellente campagne de pub d'un site emploi allemand il y a quelques années. C'est sans doute ce qu'on appelle le "marché caché"...

Sur Mode(s) d'emploi. Le temps se fait parfois long pour les personnes en recherche d'emploi. Se former peut alors être la bonne solution pour retrouver un travail. Mais si la formation est souvent présentée comme la solution miracle, sa mise en pratique est parfois bien plus compliquée qu'il n’y paraît. Aurélie, Camille, François, Amandine et Karine ont accepté de revenir sur leur parcours et de nous livrer leurs conseils pour ne pas se décourager. Les démarches ont été longues mais tous sont plutôt positifs après leur expérience...
Auparavant Directeur des Ventes au sein d'une société spécialisée dans l'information inter-entreprises, François, 41 ans, a connu une période de chômage en 2009 après avoir quitté son entreprise suite à un désaccord avec son employeur. Il a alors utilisé son DIF pour se remettre à niveau en anglais et ainsi favoriser son employabilité. "Dans mon cas" explique-t-il, "sur les postes en direction commerciale, la pratique de l'anglais était très souvent un prérequis mais je n'avais jamais eu le temps pour cela, trop noyé dans mon quotidien."  Suite...

Fin 2011, on comptait près d’1,6 million de Français établis hors de France, un chiffre en hausse de 6% par rapport à 2010. Chez les jeunes, de culture plus internationale que leurs aînés, l’envie d’ailleurs est d’autant plus prononcée. Si les motivations qui poussent au départ varient, il est certain que tous sont conscients de l’apport d’une expérience à l’étranger pour leur carrière professionnelle.
En janvier/février 2012, l’institut de sondage Gallileo s’était intéressé aux ambitions professionnelles de 1 600 étudiants de 16 des plus grandes écoles françaises. Les résultats sont sans appel : aujourd’hui, c’est près d’1 étudiant sur 4 qui cherche « prioritairement » son premier emploi à l’étranger. Du côté d’Ubifrance, en charge de la gestion des volontariats internationaux, on a constaté entre 2006 et 2011 une augmentation de 57% des demandes de placement. 85 000 jeunes, candidats au départ, se sont ainsi inscrits sur le site du CIVI. On estime que 13% des diplômés de la promotion 2010 des Grandes Écoles sont en poste hors de France. Sources: Les Français établis hors de France (Diplomatie.gouv.fr), Leur carrière commence ailleurs (L’Expansion). Suite...