International
The revival of polytechnics | As African countries prepared to gain independence in the 1960s, each one started to establish a national university. Mauritius, a small island with a population then of barely three quarters of a million, was no exception.
Universities facing serious financial crisis | Kenya’s universities are facing a serious financial crisis, operating on a Sh9 billion deficit, which undermines their ability to offer quality education and training and conduct research.
University funding: Boiling point imminent | A year after #FeesMustFall, the chickens are coming home to roost in more ways than one. The DA on Monday slammed the Fees Commission and the Department of Higher Education and Training, blaming the crisis in universities on two decades of “chronic financial neglect by the ANC government”.
South Africa: Higher Education Funding Crisis Will Hurt Poor Students and Kill Opportunities | Next week, 6 September 2016, the Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) will make its submission to the Higher Education Fees Commission. DASO believes, and will argue before the commission, that with the right funding priorities poor students can receive the support they need to thrive at university.
Why Your Financial Advisor Doesn’t Recommend Edtech Stocks | Edtech also looks bad as an investment when we compare it to other traditional stock sectors, using data from Google Finance and Vanguard. Out of 10 major categories, only the energy sector was a worse investment over our chosen time frame, losing 18 percent of its value.
U.S. National
Column: What’s making students ‘less resilient’? | In a recent Psychology Today blog post, renowned educator Dr. Peter Gray points out that students are increasingly having emotional crises over problems of everyday life, such as conflicts with roommates or receiving bad grades. The worry among educators is that a lack of student resilience is interfering with the academic mission of colleges and universities.
At the Bottom of the Resource Gap Lies the Diversity Desert | White students are 10 times more likely to earn a Ph.D. than Black students and 12 times more likely than Latino students. So what this means is that, of the 1.3 million professors working in American college and university faculties, most of whom have earned a Ph.D., only 6.7 percent are Black and 4.4 percent are Latino (2013). (It’s actually worse for private, nonprofit baccalaureate colleges, with only 5.3 percent Black faculty and 3.3 percent Latino.)
A common ground proposal to improve higher education data | This month, millions of students will head off to college hoping to earn the skills and degrees they need to secure well-paying jobs in today’s economy. This year’s entering students will be the best-equipped in history to select a school that meets those needs, thanks to the consumer-friendly College Scorecard website released by the Department of Education last fall…
U.S. States
Does charging for tuition reduce access? | In an era of significant disinvestment in public higher education by state governments in the United States, many public universities are moving towards a ‘progressive tuition model’ that attempts to invest approximately one-third of tuition income into institutional financial aid for lower-income and middle-class students.
Experts disagree on value of ‘performance-based’ funding Scott Walker will seek for UW | Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to provide new funding for the University of Wisconsin System based on its performance in measures such as graduation rate and job placement would subject the System to a budget model that critics say has failed to deliver on its promise to improve higher education.
How Cuts to Public Universities Have Driven Students Out of State | Declines in state support for public universities have helped reshape the geography of public college admissions, leading many students to attend universities far from home, where they pay higher, out-of-state tuition.
Missouri audit: Less state help hurts college affordability | Students at Missouri’s public colleges and universities are shouldering more of the cost of education because of a decrease in state funding that’s led schools to hike fees, Auditor Nicole Galloway said Tuesday.
The new North-South divide: public higher education | Southern states have been disproportionately cutting spending on public higher education, forcing tuition increases that make their colleges and universities among the least affordable for the poorest families — who already face some of the nation’s highest poverty rates — a slew of recent data show.
Some small Maryland colleges see large enrollment drops over 5 years | Many of Maryland’s smallest colleges and universities have seen steadily declining enrollment over the last five years, in some cases by double digits, straining budgets and prompting layoffs.
Institutional
Diversity on campus sparks protest? It’s a sign of progress. | The young adults moving onto college campuses over the coming weeks arrive from communities and K-12 systems that are largely segregated by race and by income; they may graduate into jobs and neighborhoods that remain so as well.
Increasing HBCU Retention: It’s the Small Things | As HBCUs are undeniably a critical component to the education of minority students, there is an exceptional need to prevent the diminishing of HBCUs by highlighting the strengths and addressing the weaknesses of these institutions.
Local schools ranked high in best community colleges list | A leading personal finance website has ranked Barstow Community College in the top 20 nationwide on its 2016 list of the best community colleges. Victor Valley College, meanwhile, comes in at No. 137.
Scoring the Scorecards | Florida International U explores whether redesigning courses according to best practices actually leads to improvements for faculty members and students.
Renewed Diversity Push | Last year, colleges were rocked by a series of protests over racial inequality on campuses and across the country. With signs pointing to those protests returning as students head back to campus this month, colleges and universities are preparing for another year of student activism.
Delaware State Using Data Science to Improve Retention | Using data analytics to retain students is about more than just helping students. It’s about enabling DSU to stay viable