By Joshua Kim. Lots of great discussion and debate around the Carroll and Felician faculty layoffs.
The comments largely fell along two lines of analysis:
Argument 1: The schools were operating under a set of economic imperatives that drove the layoffs. Therefore the actions are more understandable, if poorly handled, as higher ed is not immune from the laws revenues and costs. Read more...
By Matt Reed. What’s a thought leader? And how do you know one when you see one? 
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center today released state-by-state data on the various pathways students take on their way to earning degrees and certificates. The data builds on a national report from 2012 that showed a more optimistic picture of college completion than other studies had found previously. Read more...By Steve Gunderson. Last week, for the first time in the gainful employment regulatory process, the U.S. Department of Education revealed its true motivation and bias against private-sector education and the students who attend our institutions. While defending a regulation that limits access to higher education and obstructs a pathway to the middle class for new traditional students, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council James Kvaal hid behind the assertion that the gainful employment policy is designed to grow the middle class and protect students. Read more...By Representative Mark Takano. After months of deliberation, the Obama administration issued a proposed gainful employment regulation in an effort to protect students from programs at for-profit colleges that leave them with unmanageable debt and worthless degrees. The proposed rule includes provisions requiring career education programs to meet certain standards related to the debt-to-earnings ratio and default rate of graduates. While I would have liked to see a stronger rule – one that includes, for example, loan repayment rates as a metric and a new program approval process – it is a step forward. Read more...By Nicole M. Stephens, MarYam G. Hamedani and Mesmin Destin. During January’s White House opportunity summit, policy makers and higher education leaders announced over 100 new initiatives designed to bolster first-generation and low-income students’ college success. While students who overcome the odds to gain access to college bring with them significant grit and resilience, the road through college is often a rocky one. Read more...By Michael Stratford. Much of the discussion about low-income students in Washington has centered on getting those students access to larger federal grants and loans, convincing them to apply for aid, or even persuading them to think about pursuing higher education in the first place. Read more...By Carl Straumsheim. In the face of mounting financial challenges, some small colleges are hoping that -- together -- they can be as innovative in the online education space as the big guys. The Council of Independent Colleges and the Teagle Foundation, which supports undergraduate education in arts and sciences, are among some of the organizations pushing for a liberal arts approach to online or hybrid education through recent initiatives that invite small colleges to work together and learn from one another. Read more...By Paul Fain. Students are much less likely to earn a four-year degree if they first enroll at a community college. A key reason, according to a newly released study, is lost credits in the transfer process. The research also dumps cold water on several other explanations for why many community college students fail to eventually complete bachelor’s degrees, such as assumptions about lowered expectations, a vocational focus or inadequate academic rigor during their time at two-year colleges. Read more...By Ry Rivard. Several Pennsylvania public colleges are looking for a way out of the state’s struggling 14-university system. Supporters say a bill proposed this month would strengthen the state’s higher education system by allowing its best institutions to leave, while critics worry the bill would hurt the system, lead to higher tuition and weaken faculty and staff unions. Read more.../https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
