By Richard D. Kahlenberg. The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice released a letter to college and university presidents on Friday about the legality of affirmative action. It suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2013 decision in Fisher v. University of Texas simply reaffirmed the Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger—a reading at odds with those of many higher-education lawyers. More...
By Steven Ward. In order to destroy public universities, it is important to:
(1) Denigrate public education, and public institutions in general, as drains on private wealth and “job makers” to the point that no one would dare ask for increased support. This will assure that public universities are relegated to second-rate status with inferior facilities and loads of part-time faculty members, and will forever have a negative stigma placed on them relative to private universities. More...
By Hannah Winston. As more and more students turn to online education for convenience, the notion of an online degree has become more commonplace. Continuing education, institutions like the University of Phoenix, and the growing number of MOOCs available all contribute to this growing norm in higher education. But a new survey shows that community-college students and employers may not trust an online degree as much as they trust a traditional one. Read more...
By Megan O'Neil. Washington — The budget impasse that brought nonessential operations of the federal government to a halt on Tuesday also had a major impact on Web sites used by many educators, researchers, and students. The shutdown, which triggered furloughs for approximately 800,000 federal workers and the closing of offices, research labs, and national parks across the country, is expected to affect colleges, students, and academic scientists only minimally at first. Read more...
By Steve Kolowich. Khan Academy, the nonprofit organization that offers free tutorials on the Web, has introduced a new feature that lets users track their progress toward “mastering” various mathematics concepts. The Web site, a popular resource for students and teachers at many levels of education, uses data analysis to track students’ understanding. The new dashboard is supposed to give students access to more information about what they know, and what they do not, based on how they perform on various exercises. A user—a journalist, say—might log in to the Khan Academy home page, take a brief diagnostic “pretest,” and find out that of the 46 math concepts touched on in that test, he has demonstrated “mastery” of two. Read more...
By. For the third year in a row, the California Institute of Technology has retained the No. 1 spot in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Harvard University and the University of Oxford tied for second place, while Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology rounded out the top five. Read more...By . Legislation in California that would allow the state’s community colleges to charge more for high-demand courses during summer and winter terms has passed the State Senate and Assembly and is on the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown. The bill would create a pilot project letting colleges charge all students nonresident tuition rates—as much as $200 per unit—for certain high-demand courses. Read more...By . Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded Howard University’s credit rating, citing several financial challenges at the historically black institution, including revenue and enrollment declines and “weak” fund raising. Moody’s assigned $290-million in revenue bonds issued for Howard a rating of Baa1, down from A3, indicating that the agency considers them to be a moderate credit risk, according to The Washington Post. The agency began its review in July, after tensions arose regarding the university’s financial health. Read more...By . The percentage of borrowers who defaulted on their federal student loans within two years of entering repayment has risen again, to 10 percent, according to data released on Monday by the U.S. Department of Education. Read more...
By Eric Hoover. Toronto — One long chapter has ended, but the book surely hasn’t been shut. /https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
