News Items from the Week of Jan. 15, 2016

International

Teaching to the test | The OECD’s Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes, or AHELO, project seeks to compare the quality of what students learn in different institutions and countries.

Hobsons acquisition targets retention, educational outcomes | Hobsons, a provider of college and career readiness, enrollment management, and student success solutions, on Jan. 12 announced the acquisition of the Predictive Analytics Reporting (PAR) Framework, Inc. PAR, a national membership collaborative, helps colleges, universities, and higher education systems use data to improve retention and postsecondary success.

Universities ‘should measure outcomes of internationalisation’ | More universities should measure the impact of their internationalisation strategies rather than assuming their initiatives will be beneficial, an international higher education expert has claimed.

U.S. National

Report: ‘Need-blind’ Policies Have Failed Elite Institutions | The college admissions process is “rigged” against high-achieving poor students, and the way to solve the problem is to institute a “poverty preference” in the college admissions process.

Higher Education Debt Is Worth It, But Isn’t Risk Free | The public discussion about higher education has long been focused on two obvious trends: the rising cost of college, and the growing burden of student debt.

Challenging the Barista Myth | Two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday released a summary of their recent research that finds the stereotype to be false and the economic difficulties of recent college graduates to be overstated.

Cost Share Shift | A new report from the Delta Cost Project reveals how much more heavily institutions rely on tuition dollars since the recession.

Top 10 Issues & Trends Impacting Higher Education in 2016 | The following includes the top issues and trends impacting higher education in 2016.

College sports exploits unpaid black athletes | [B]y refusing to pay athletes, the NCAA isn’t just perpetuating a financial injustice. It’s also committing a racial one.

U.S. States

For schools, Pa. budget fight means money goes to bank loans instead of students | At Community College of Allegheny County, $31,000 would be enough to send about 10 students to school tuition-free for a year… Instead, it’s roughly the amount CCAC will be giving a bank to cover interest and fees.

Student debt is hurting Missourians | Today, the average student borrower owes more than $26,000, a sharp rise since 2000 and a direct reflection of states like Missouri that fall short in their obligation to adequately fund higher education.

Wisconsin rolls out college affordability plan: more grants, tax breaks | Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced a series of legislative proposals Tuesday to make college more affordable and increase access to grants, but some criticized him for not including a proposal to allow refinancing of student loans.

Planned Breakup in Tennessee | Universities favor governor’s proposal to restructure public higher ed governance, but system chancellor and others say institutional interests will trump state priorities.

Institutional

Strengthening the College Transfer Pathway | The transfer pathway from community colleges to four-year colleges and universities is badly broken.

Putting Foreign Students First? | Community college in Washington State increasingly relies on international student revenue, but some faculty worry it is moving away from its mission of serving local residents.

Bethel University warned by SACS | Bethel University recently learned it will be on warning status this year with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the university’s accrediting body.

When talk grows cheap on campus, maybe it’s time to try listening | On a growing number of campuses, students have been expressing their outrage and impatience regarding racism and the underlying issue of an inequitable distribution of power.

Louise Richardson: educate students to ‘prevent next financial crisis’ | The first female vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford has called on the institution to educate future leaders who can “think critically” and “act ethically” so that they can prevent the next financial crisis and deal with other threats facing the world.