International
Expert: Student Data Underutilized in Promoting Success | Colleges and universities must make better use of the vast amount of student data that is available in order to bring about more timely graduations for all students, a data mining expert exhorted his colleagues Monday at an annual gathering of education researchers.
UAE culture of storytelling can leave students ‘unprepared for higher education’ | The culture of oral storytelling presents a challenge to those attempting to encourage reading in the region, experts say.
Third-level courses at ‘crisis point’ due to cuts, report says | [Ireland] Spending cuts have pushed some third-level college courses to “crisis point”, with serious implications for their future sustainability, according to a new report.
Our plans for quality assessment have been misunderstood | We, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, published our revised operating model for quality assessment just before Easter.
In Britain, the Wealthy Get Wealthier | Study finds those who entered British universities wealthier than others earn more after graduation — even from the same programs at the same institutions.
College students should be treated as partners not consumers – HEA | Overall, the working group favoured the “developmental model” for Irish higher education institutions, over the “market model” common in the US and, increasingly, the UK.
East Africa: Flexible Models Have Helped Growth of Higher Education in East Africa | East Africa has registered phenomenal growth and expansion of higher education in the past two decades and opened opportunities for high school leavers to pursue degree programmes.
Colleges told they must involve students in decision-making | Students must be centrally involved in decision-making processes in third-level colleges, according to a report from the Higher Education Authority (HEA).
U.S. National
Understanding the Origins of Ed-Tech Snake Oil | The marketing for “personalized” educational products can feel a little like a late-night infomercial.
Next Steps in Improving Higher Education Regulation | The need for better regulation of higher education is clear. Critics of command and control decry the wastefulness of box-checking and the many other burdens imposed by prescriptive rules that are too often unrelated to education.
Are Colleges Too Obsessed With Smartness? | Mr. Astin, a professor emeritus at the University of California at Los Angeles, believes that too many faculty members “have come to value merely being smart more than developing smartness.”
Lumina Reports Uptick in College Completion | College completion numbers show incremental improvement from last year, according to the annual Lumina Foundation report, “A Stronger Nation.”
U.S. States
Maine Voices: Commitment to affordable college tuition is a boon for schools, students | At their March meeting, the University of Maine System Board of Trustees made their commitment to affordable higher education abundantly clear by voting unanimously to extend the tuition freeze at Maine’s public universities into the 2016-2017 academic year.
Kentucky attorney general sues Matt Bevin over immediate higher education cuts | Beshear’s lawsuit is a direct response to an order by Bevin for colleges and universities to immediately cut 4.5 percent in state funding from the current year’s budget.
Madigan blasts Rauner’s agenda, says governor wants government shutdown | In a rare, 10-minute speech, Madigan ratcheted up his rhetoric against Rauner, delivering a scathing address in which he accused the former private equity investor of trying to make good on an early campaign threat to shut down state government by pursuing a “personal agenda” aimed at harming the middle class.
Illinois risks brain drain as university students look elsewhere | As a May 1 deadline looms for high school seniors deciding where to attend college, students are thinking twice about universities in Illinois, where the worst budget crisis in state history has halted funding for higher education.
Institutional
Free College, Political Support: Survey of Community College Leaders | The survey, conducted by Gallup, features the impressions of 220 community college presidents on the current state of the free community college movement, their expectations of support from the next U.S. president and issues surrounding declining enrollments and graduation rates.
Common Application Saturates the College Admissions Market, Critics Say | Admissions experts point to a trend called application inflation. Students are sending off more applications than ever. In 1990, just 9 percent of students applied to seven or more schools, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling. By 2013, that group had grown to 32 percent.
‘Hostile Takeover’ of Hope College | Students and faculty members fear the president they admire, who has focused on liberal arts and moved away from hostility toward gay people, may be ousted.