International
An intersectional approach to the future of learning | In sociology, the term ‘intersectionality’ asks us to consider the overlapping nature of multiple identities and how those identities interlock to make systems of power. Higher education must go beyond the frame of 18- to 22-year-olds to consider a lifetime view of learning that helps illuminate powerful intersections of learning, life and work.
Countries that help working class students get into university have happier citizens | However, a new study, published in the British Journal of Sociology of Education shows that this doesn’t have to be the case, and that the link between social class and happiness can be moderated by educational policies that offer more opportunities to disadvantaged children…The results showed that, as expected, young people from privileged social backgrounds were more satisfied with their life than those from disadvantaged backgrounds. However the size of this disparity was affected by the types of educational policies adopted by European countries.
The coming ‘China crisis’ in global higher education | For a range of reasons, China’s global higher education role is about to change significantly – with implications for the rest of the world. One-third of the 1.1 million international students in the United States are from China – similar proportions are found in such major receiving countries as Australia (38%) and the United Kingdom (41% of non-European Union students). This has created an unsustainable situation of overdependence.
First global impact ranking of universities released | The world’s first university impact ranking, published by Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, reveals a new hierarchy of global institutions based on universities’ work towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ranking offers new insights on universities’ work towards gender equality, climate action and sustainable cities and communities, among other areas.
Report: Higher ed corruption is a global problem | Issues with corruption varied around the world, but no geographical area was immune to it, according to CHEA/CIQG’s study. The recent alleged admissions bribery scandal lighting up the higher ed world should make clear, if it wasn’t already, that the U.S. can be vulnerable to even the boldest forms of corruption. While corruption was widely present, quality assurance groups were more aware of specific types of corruption in some countries — such as Russia, Nigeria, India and those in the Western Balkans — than in more developed countries, according to the report.
In rich countries, the middle class is getting smaller and smaller, generation by generation | [F]or each new generation in the OECD’s aggregate average, the middle class is getting smaller, the upper class is stable, and the lower class is expanding.
U.S. National
Tuition Woes | “Tuition and fees have skyrocketed enormously over the past three decades,” Mamie Voight, vice president of policy research at the Institute for Higher Education Policy, told the HPR. “They’ve actually increased at almost five times the rate of inflation, four times faster than family income, and even twice as fast as health-care costs…Less than 15 percent of low-income students get a four-year college degree, but more than six in 10 wealthy students do, and that’s a gap that we should be working to close,” Voight said.
Is this Time Different? | Higher education is bifurcating along multiple lines. These include not only financial resources, but students’ college readiness, their academic preparation in high school, and institutional spending on instruction and student services. Increasingly, this bifurcation is making itself felt in the academic experience itself: In the range of courses, programs, and majors offered and access to experiential learning opportunities and co-curricular and extra-curricular experiences.
The Student Debt Crisis Explained: How We Got Here, Why It’s Getting Worse, And How To (Maybe) Fix It | Over the last decade, student loan debt in America has risen by 130%, to where it now tops $1.5 trillion, a record high. For perspective, that’s half a trillion higher than our cumulative credit card debt (also at a record high). The average college student graduates $37,172 in debt, and each year, in part because high interest rates compound that debt over time, more than one million borrowers default. Today, of the 44 million Americans who carry student debt, 10.7% are currently in default—a default rate that itself is rising at a troubling pace: We saw a 14 percent increase between 2015 and 2016.
A Crisis in Confidence in Higher Ed | Confidence in higher education in the U.S. has decreased significantly since 2015, more so than for any other U.S. institution that Gallup measures. This drop in confidence in the higher education industry comes after Gallup detected a similar decline in the public’s view that higher education is available to those who need it, suggesting that access — and more specifically, rising costs — may be affecting the public’s view of the industry more generally.
U.S. States
Alumni, Several Lawmakers Decry Proposed Georgia HBCU Bill | Georgia Senate Bill 273 that would consolidate the state’s three public historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) into the Georgia Agricultural and Mechanical University System, lawmakers swiftly withdrew and introduced in its place a second bill, SB278, allowing the institutions to keep their names under the system. However, the move did not alleviate the concerns of alumni and supporters of Albany State University, Fort Valley State University and Savannah State University, who wished for more transparency in the crafting of the bills by state senators.
Lawmakers, educators meet to address dropout crisis, student success | Brown is one example of a much larger population, one of low-income and first-generation college students less likely than their more affluent peers to complete college once they’ve started. Between 2014 and 2016, 4 million undergraduates quit school before completing a degree, data from the U.S. Department of Education show. Local numbers show 905,000 North Carolinians have begun some form of higher education, only to leave before finishing their degrees, said Andrew Kelly, the University of North Carolina System’s vice president for strategy and policy.
Partial, and Uneven, Recovery From Recession | A new study finds that just nine states have bounced back from pre-recession funding levels, and another 11 have yet to increase per-student funding to even the low point of the recession. In the middle: 30 states that have higher per-student appropriations than at their low point in 2012 or 2013, but which now fund postsecondary education at a lower level than their pre-recession high of 2007 or 2008. The findings suggest that even as many state higher education systems have marked several years of annual funding increases, recovery has been highly uneven and has largely failed to keep up with expanding enrollments over the decade.
Institutional
College finds footing in enrollment decline | Enrollment at Columbia is continuing its years-long downward trend with the Spring 2019 semester, according to the college’s Institutional Effectiveness website…From Spring 2017 to Spring 2018, enrollment suffered an 8.9% decline. From Spring 2018 to this Spring 2019 semester, the decline was 5.3%—a slight improvement. While the college is not expecting significant enrollment increases in the fall, it hopes the more than 10-year trend of decline will level off.
Hampshire President Quits; Board Votes to Try to Stay Independent | The college also announced that its board had voted to start a fund-raising campaign to remain independent. While the board has not in recent months ruled out that possibility, it has been pursuing partnerships — a strategy opposed by many students, alumni and faculty members who believe that it would be impossible to find a partnership that would not erode Hampshire’s values…According to data released by the college, in 2014, enrollment was 1,390, but it fell to 1,120 this year. In 2018, the college projected that it would receive deposits from 397 first-year students. The actual total was 320.
The Impact and Importance of HBCUs Emphasized at NAN Convention | Several presidents of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) discussed the far-reaching influence of their institutions on American life during a panel held on Friday at the National Action Network (NAN) convention. Statistics make an emphatic point. Over one-third of all African-Americans with degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields earned their degrees at a HBCU. These are the institutions that produce Black electrical, civil and industrial engineers.
CCCSE Reports Offers Insight into Connection Between Mindset and Student Success | CCCSE’s report, “A Mind at Work: Maximizing the Relationship between Mindset and Student Success,” notes that cultivating a more productive academic mindset – the student’s belief that they can change their intelligence, be confident in their ability to learn challenging material and accomplish difficult tasks – can increase students’ levels of engagement, raise their GPAs and positively impact their collegiate success.