By Grace Bird. A study group convened by the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Va., last August released a report last week documenting the university's history of racism and exclusion, including two student organizations in the early 20th century that were called Ku Klux Klan.
Two student organizations took the name “Ku Klux Klan” between 1919 and 1926, the report found. One group was associated with the national white supremacist group. The other was an interfraternity society unattached to a broader organization. These groups were widely uncontroversial, according to the report. More...
Inside the Oversight of a Questionable Institution
By Elizabeth Redden. The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools seeks a second chance. Over the years it's accredited some questionable institutions that have been likened to visa mills. More...
Cutting Off Chinese Researchers
By Elizabeth Redden. White House reportedly considers new restrictions barring Chinese citizens from engaging in sensitive research at U.S. universities. Higher education groups say they want to protect national security interests, but U.S. universities must remain open. More...
New Student Visa Data Show Overall Declines
By Elizabeth Redden. The total number of international students in the U.S. on F and M visas declined by 0.5 percent between March 2017 and March 2018, according to a new biannual report on student visa data compiled by the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program. More...
Justices Appear Willing to Uphold Travel Ban
By Elizabeth Redden. The five-person conservative majority on the Supreme Court appears willing to uphold President Trump’s authority to impose a travel ban, The New York Times reported. The court heard arguments Wednesday in a case challenging the ban, which restricts entry into the U.S. to varying degrees for nationals of seven countries -- Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen -- five of which are Muslim majority (an eighth country, Chad, was recently removed from the list of banned countries). More...
Report Finds Risks in Public-Private International Student Partnerships
By Elizabeth Redden. A report from the Ontario provincial government found that partnerships between public universities and private colleges to educate international students pose risks to students and to the quality of education in the province, The Globe and Mail reported. More...
Third Judge Blocks Trump's Bid to End DACA
By Elizabeth Redden. A third federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from ending the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides protection against deportation and work permits to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, The Washington Post reported. More...
'Suspect' California University Shut Down
By Elizabeth Redden. A California institution that a U.S. senator recently characterized as a suspected “visa mill” has shut down after state authorities revoked its certificate to operate. More...
A Different Kind of Friday
By Greg Toppo. For more than a year, the University of Mobile has given faculty and staff members the equivalent of Fridays off, with a 35-hour week (the same number of hours as before) that shifts classes to a Monday-Thursday schedule and encourages students to spend Fridays volunteering, working at internships or mentoring and performing community service. Nonfaculty employees also enjoy four-day schedules but rotate days off. More...
‘New Liberal Arts’ or Not-So-Liberal Arts?
By Greg Toppo. Ohio's Hiram College stakes its future on ability to attract enough students willing to embrace a new, more interdisciplinary, experiential curriculum. More...