By Karen Weise. For years students flocked to schools run by Corinthian Colleges (COCO), one of the largest for-profit education companies in the U.S. Attracted by late-night TV commercials and Internet ads for vocational certificates and online business degrees, they enrolled on the promise that the extra career training would give them a leg up in the job market. The marketing worked: At its peak, in 2003, the publicly traded company was worth more than $4 billion. About 72,000 students attend Corinthian’s three chains—Everest, Heald, and WyoTech. More...

By Matt Reed. Travel funding is even harder to come by these days than it used to be.  In the community college world, that’s saying something. I mention it in light of this piece in the Chronicle about the Aspen Institute’s recommendations for search committees looking for community college presidents. Read more...

Vice President Joe Biden and Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, on Monday announced the final installment of $2 billion in competitive grants under the so-called Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Program (TAACCCT). The grants are related to a broader expansion of federal workforce programs. The $450 million will go to roughly 270 community colleges around the country, the White House said in a written statement. Read more...

The U.S. Department of Education is not doing enough to make sure that the programs it runs for low-income students do not end up providing duplicative services, according to a report released this week by the agency’s inspector general. Read more...

Degree programs that award students credit by assessing their skills – rather than making them pass courses – have been touted by the Obama administration, members of Congress and many in higher education as a promising new innovation. But the U.S. Department of Education’s Inspector General this week threw some cold water on the enthusiasm for that model, known as direct assessment, criticizing how officials have allowed the first handful of programs of that type to become eligible for federal funding. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. The Pell Grant program, once a powerful tool for promoting low-income access in higher education, has lost its luster. That’s the conclusion of a new report -- "Beyond Pell: A Next-Generation Design for Federal Financial Aid" -- that was published Thursday by the Education Trust, New America Foundation, and Young Invincibles. Read more...

By Jake New. This month was not kind to the already-embattled image of the American college fraternity. Wesleyan University announced that its fraternities would have to go coeducational amid a push from students and faculty members who say that fraternities encourage sexism and mistreatment of women. Read more...