By Jeffrey R. Young. Four liberal-arts colleges on Monday formed a consortium to share information about their experiments with online education, and more members may soon join in.
The focus is not on bringing down the cost of education, but on improving online-teaching projects — whether all-online or hybrid courses — by sharing experiences and collaborating. More...
New Consortium’s Mission: Improve Liberal-Arts Teaching Online
Asian-American Groups Seek Federal Investigation of Alleged Bias at Harvard
By Peter Schmidt. More than 60 Asian-American groups have accused Harvard University of discriminating against applicants for their ethnic backgrounds in complaints filed with the Justice Department and the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. More...
Cooper Union Faculty Member Is Denied Entry to United Arab Emirates
By Ian Wilhelm. Walid Raad, an artist and associate professor at the Cooper Union, says he was barred from entering the United Arab Emirates this week for “security” reasons, according to a letter he posted online on Friday.
It is the second time an academic has been banned from entering the country in recent months. More...
Hazing Is Common in Marching Bands, Study Concludes
By Andy Thomason. Hazing is a common occurrence in marching-band programs across the country, according to the results of a new study published in the Journal of Research in Music Education. The study found that almost one-third of the more than 1,200 undergraduates surveyed said they had observed hazing in their band programs. More...
Adviser Who Threatened to Call the Police on Black Student Is Put on Leave
By Andy Thomason. Kennesaw State University has placed an academic adviser on leave, pending an investigation, after she was caught on video threatening to call the police on a black student, the college said in a statement on Friday. More...
Education Dept. Proposes Reining In Deals Between Colleges and Banks
By Andy Thomason. The U.S. Education Department on Friday proposed new regulations aimed at reining in agreements between colleges and banks that want to market their products to students. The proposed rules, scheduled for publication in Monday’s Federal Register, represent the Obama administration’s latest effort to curb those agreements, which can leave students on the hook for fees they may have incurred unintentionally. More...
Citing Threats of Disruption, Sweet Briar’s President Won’t Attend Commencement
By Andy Thomason. The president of Sweet Briar College will not attend what is slated to be the institution’s final commencement ceremony, writing in an email to the campus on Friday that he did “not want anything to distract from what should be a celebration of our students’ academic success.” More...
Even Private Colleges Feel the Pain as Enrollment Falls Again
By Andy Thomason. Total college enrollment fell again this year, driven primarily by the departure of older students finding employment in an improving economy, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Student Clearinghouse. More...
Former Students Will Get a Seat at the Table in Corinthian’s Bankruptcy Case
By Andy Thomason. Former students at Corinthian Colleges will be represented by a special committee in the for-profit’s bankruptcy case, The Wall Street Journal reports. The unusual step represents a win for the former students, who formally requested such representation on Monday. More...
Interest Rates on New Federal Student Loans Will Drop for 2015-16
By Andy Thomason. Interest rates on new federal student loans will drop for the 2015-16 academic year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The rate on undergraduate Stafford loans will drop to 4.29 percent, down from 4.66 percent this year. More...