International
Is benchmarking more useful than ranking? | It is beyond doubt that rankings have become a significant part of the tertiary education landscape, both globally and locally. They have risen in importance and proliferated in unimaginable ways.
Higher education Green Paper: Concerns over TEF timetable and fee caps | Universities UK has expressed concerns about the timetable for the teaching excellence framework (TEF) and claimed that multiple fee caps would be “disproportionate, burdensome and counterproductive”.
Private universities damage education quality, says president of India | The president of India has blamed private universities for lowering the quality of higher education in his country.
Flagship universities – Enrolment, typology, graduates | Africa has the lowest higher education enrolment rates in the world. But in the last decade, virtually all higher education systems on the continent have recorded massive growth.
The flaw in the world-class university paradigm | Without any sound alternative vision for higher education, many governments pour huge resources into elite national universities so that they can have one ‘World-Class University’ or more.
U.S. National
Wage trends, drops in subsidies raise university, college leaders’ concerns about affordability | “There is greater income disparity and there is greater disparity in education than there has been in the past. It becomes really important for colleges and universities to reach out and address this problem.”
Has Obama Let Down Historically Black Colleges? | President’s answer to a question from a Southern University student frustrates some HBCU advocates and sets off debate on the administration’s priorities.
Pushing on Pell | The Obama administration wants to bring back year-round Pell Grants and create a $300 bonus for Pell recipients who take at least 15 credits per semester.
Transfer System From 2-Year to 4-Year Colleges Isn’t Working, Report Says | Only 14 percent of the students who start out in a community college transfer to a four-year university and earn a bachelor’s degree within six years, according to a report released on Tuesday by three groups that are studying ways to plug the leaky pipeline between two- and four-year colleges.
U.S. States
Minnesota unveils low rate student loan refinancing program | Struggling student loan borrowers in Minnesota may see an extra $200 a month in their pockets thanks to a state-run education debt refinancing program.
Legislators spar over college affordability plans | [Wisconsin] Republicans and Democrats agree college needs to be more affordable for students, who in 2014 reportedly graduated with an average debt of $28,810.
State universities: Illinois budget stalemate causing damage ‘beyond repair’ | With no money from the state in nearly seven months and its financial reserves almost depleted, Chicago State University says it will be unable to pay its employees come March unless money begins flowing again from Springfield.
Progress on Remediation | New report from Complete College America gives a first look at how pairing additional resources with introductory college courses can help students who need remediation.
Institutional
Standard and Poor’s Forecasts Continued Struggle for Smaller Schools | Colleges and universities in the U.S. have adapted to the new economic reality of increased competition for students and limited latitude in terms of raising tuition prices, according to a Standard and Poor’s report on the sector’s prospects for 2016.
Distribution Plus | The much-maligned general education model remains alive and well, but with new features, survey finds.
A President’s Plan to Steer Out At-Risk Freshmen Incites a Campus Backlash | Few people at Mount St. Mary’s University of Maryland would disagree that too many students are dropping out in the first year, but the president’s suggestion that faculty members stop treating them as “cuddly bunnies” and “drown the bunnies” instead has many fuming.
Boosting Buying Power | Private colleges found a consortium to collectively negotiate with companies that develop enterprise resource planning software.
HBCUs Hit Strategic Reset in Face of Funding Mismatch | In an environment in which state and federal higher education appropriations are continuing a downward spiral, many public institutions are feeling the pressure of a resource deficit. For public historically Black colleges in particular, which have traditionally received less funding than their predominantly White counterparts and which typically serve students who are more financial aid dependent at a sticker price that is also often lower than their counterparts, this funding mismatch is a perennial problem.