Par Bertrand Duperrin. Les MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses sont les prémices d’une révolution dans l’enseignement et l’acquisition de savoirs mais sans qu’on sache encore trop ce qu’il faut prendre ou laisser, quelle partie des promesses est valide ou pas.
Ce n’est donc que l’expérimentation qui permettra de recadrer, affiner, progresser. Et justement, les expérimentations se multiplient avec leur réussites et leurs échecs. La dernière en date dont je voulais parler vient de l’université d’Etat de San Jose (San Jose State University – SJSU) aux Etats-Unis. L’Université avait annoncé en février qu’elle allait démarrer un MOOC sur la plateforme Udacity, une intiative qui avait d’autant plus attiré l’attention qu’il s’agissait de cours permettant l’obtention de crédits. Une partie d’un cursus diplômant pour lequel des gens avaient payé. Du très sérieux donc. Suite de l'article...

By Dileep Rao. The structure of entrepreneurial education seems to be based on an assumption that entrepreneurs need venture capital for growth. Accordingly many business schools organize business plan competitions; conduct shark tanks with mentors, angels and VCs; teach venture-capital financing; and lead students in the direction of capital intensity.
But is this the right direction? Is this hurting job creation and new enterprise development? With apologies to Tennessee Williams, should universities make their students dependent on advice from mentors and on money from strangers? More...

By Gary A. Olson. College affordability has become the central theme of commentators about higher education recently, reaching a climax in President Obama's plan to reform higher education. There is no doubt that college costs have skyrocketed and that something must be done, but the rhetoric is obscuring some important facts.
The underlying assumption of most articles published in the popular press (and, indeed, of President Obama's speech) is that the colleges themselves are to blame. I have even heard TV pundits accuse colleges of "gouging" students. This accusation is disingenuous and only serves to deflect attention from some very real problems. More...

College enrollment counts are a mixed bag this fall at Montana institutions of higher learning.
Enrollment is up significantly at Montana State University in Bozeman and down sharply at the University of Montana in Missoula.
In Billings both Montana State University Billings and Rocky Mountain College posted slight enrollment drops.
Although final figures aren’t in for all campuses, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education expects slight enrollment increases at UM Northern in Havre and at Montana Tech in Butte while other campuses will be down slightly. Read more...

By Sam R. Hall. Over the past few months, a number of university presidents have sat down with our editorial board to discuss what their institutions are doing and the challenges facing them.
Most of the discussions inevitably turn to funding, which is clearly the biggest challenge facing our public colleges and universities.
Consider these stats for funding from 2000-2013:
• The state budget has increased 37 percent since 2000 but declined 4 percent since 2008.
• Higher education, not including community and junior colleges, funding has dropped 7 percent since 2000 and 15 percent since 2008.
• Community and junior college funding has increased 43 percent since 2000 and remained flat since 2008.
• Public education funding has increased 49 percent since 2000 but dropped 9 percent since 2008. More...

By Janet Lorin. Tuition and fees at private, non-profit U.S. colleges rose 3.6 percent in 2013-2014, the smallest increase in more than 40 years, as families struggle to afford college costs.
The increase was the lowest since at least the 1972-1973 year, according to data published today by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, collected from 510 schools.
Curbing the cost of college has become an issue for President Barack Obama, who in August called for a new way to link federal financial aid to a U.S. government rating system looking at college expenses and performance. Cost increases had declined to the mid-4 percent range over the past four years compared with almost 6 percent a year during the previous decade, according to the Washington trade group. More...

By Eric Berman. It's become a cliche to point out the importance of education to landing a good job. But education officials are spelling out for legislators just how important it is.
Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers predicts by 2020, two-thirds of all jobs will require something beyond a high school diploma -- either a bachelor's or associate's degree, or some kind of certification. More...

By Karen Farkas. Some public universities are seeking more autonomy from states, looking to cut deals with state lawmakers that scale back direct oversight in return for less funding and meeting certain performance targets, the Huffington Post reported.
But not in Ohio. More...

SOME people hope that the internet will revolutionise higher education, making it cheaper and more accessible to the masses. Others fear the prospect. Some academics worry that they will be sacked and replaced by videos of their more photogenic colleagues. Others argue that MOOCs (massive open online courses) are nowhere near as good as a class taught face-to-face.
Earlier this year academics at Amherst, a liberal-arts college, decided not to offer MOOCs. Professors in the philosophy department at San José State University wrote a letter of complaint because they were encouraged to use a popular online Harvard course, “JusticeX”, as part of their own curriculum. Even at Harvard, which has invested $30m in MOOCs, much of the faculty is prickly. In May 58 professors wrote to the dean of arts and sciences to demand greater oversight of MOOCs. More...