By Andy Thomason. A bill introduced on Thursday in the U.S. Senate would let students who don’t finish four-year degrees use their course credits to claim associate degrees, reports The Charlotte Observer. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat, and Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, is designed to help community-college students who transfer to four-year programs but don’t end up graduating from either institution. More...

By Chronicle Staff. Report: “Ensuring Educational Integrity: 10 Steps to Improve State Oversight of For-Profit Schools”
Author: Robyn Smith, Of Counsel, National Consumer Law Center
Summary: In light of the increasing number of federal and state investigations into the business practices of for-profit colleges, the consumer-law center offers a series of recommendations to state lawmakers to curb fraud. While the report applauds the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed gainful-employment rules, such regulations would “not be sufficient to prevent the abuses of the for-profit school industry.” The report calls on state governments to provide greater oversight of for-profit institutions and to set minimum standards for online colleges and universities. More...