Hanover Research, a global leader in information services, announced the results of an analysis of the current state of for-credit online education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at predominantly non-profit institutions. By examining Peterson’s Distance Learning Database, one of the most comprehensive datasets on distance and online learning currently available, the analysis reveals non-profit institutional trends amongst 699 institutions offering online degree programs in the United States. More...

By Matt Zalaznick. Bard College doesn’t judge the success of its prison initiative by the number of students who stay out of jail. Recidivism is an extremely low bar, says Executive Director Max Kenner. “We judge by how many people are becoming middle-class taxpayers, how many people are involved in deeply meaningful ways in their communities. We think by those measures we are thriving.”
In New York’s Hudson Valley, Bard is expanding its work in prisons as similar programs see a resurgence across the country. There are 275 men and women working toward degrees in Bard’s tuition-free programs in six prisons. “The degrees are precisely the same as what’s offered on campus,” Kenner says.
Operating costs are about $3,000 to $5,000 per student per year. More...

By Avi Asher-Shapiro. Between scouting for new recruits, traveling to tournaments, and practicing for game day, the athletic department staff at University of California, Irvine (UCI) is always on the go. For years, the department has been heavily invested in social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, but keeping fans informed on the road had proved a challenge. So back in 2011, UCI equipped all 80 of its athletics staff with iPhones, loaded with a full suite of social media and communications apps. More...

By Kylie Lacey. Institutions in nine states are experimenting with using papers and coursework—instead of tests—to judge whether students are learning skills employers need. University representatives from these states will develop standards for judging students’ critical thinking, problem solving, intercultural competence and more. These skills were determined to be what employees most value in graduates, says Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. In 2010, AAC&U released Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Educations (VALUE) rubrics that measure students’ capacity on 16 essential learning outcomes as valued by employers, says Schneider. More...

By Sherrie Negrea. Solutions for authenticating the results of student assessments conducted online. As more colleges and universities offer credit for MOOCs, one problem that has cropped up is how to authenticate the results of student assessments conducted online. More...

By Sherrie Negrea. Despite growing interest in the higher ed community about the potential of credit being offered for MOOCs, the number of institutions that have rolled out such programs is small. And though more than 8 million people have taken a MOOC in the past three years, the number of students to take advantage of MOOC-for-credit programs is even smaller. More...

By Jennifer Polk - From PhD to Life. Maureen McCarthy earned her PhD in English in 2013 from Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She is now the assistant director of advancement and best practices at the Council of Graduate Schools. Find her on Twitter @maureentmcc.
What did you hope for in terms of employment as you completed your PhD?
I was looking for a position in Washington, D.C. for personal reasons. One of the main reasons I ultimately decided not to pursue the tenure track was because of a desire to be free to choose my geographic location. Specifically, I chose to live close(r) to the people I most love, most of whom are concentrated on the East Coast of the U.S. More...