Stanford to Join Harvard, MIT in Online Education

Stanford University announced that it is joining forces with Harvard and MIT on developing a computer system that allows colleges to offer free massive open online courses, or MOOCS. Stanford still plans to offer some of its courses through Coursera, a commercial Internet course provider founded by two Stanford professors. (Boston Globe, 04/03/13)

Starting Salaries Vary By College Attended

Report: Earnings of Colorado college grads vary widely by major and institution

The latest College Measures report on earnings of college graduates looks at data from Colorado, where those receiving an associate of applied sciences degree typically out-earn those with a bachelor’s degree during their first year of work. Institution also matters: median first-year income for a business administration major from the University of Colorado Denver is $43,500, compared with $59,600 for graduates with the same degree from the University of Denver. College Measures is a joint venture of AIR and the Matrix Knowledge Group.

How To Defend A College With Zero Graduation Rate.

Higher Ed Watch 

It’s not often that you see members of Congress defending a college with a zero percent graduation rate. But that is exactly what is happening for Oregon’s Marylhurst University. Both of the state’s Senators and three of its representatives recently wrote a letter to the Department of Education defending the University against claims from the Department’s own College Scorecard that it has a 0% graduation rate. [Full Article

The defense has merit because the college is for part time students, and US Ed Dept counts graduation rates only for first time, full time students. I wonder when US Ed Dept will finally get around to using a more sensible measure.

Politics Of Deference Hinders Postsecondary Policy Change

Many have characterized the political attitude toward higher education as being one of deference: higher education is funded to the best ability of policymakers, and more or less left alone. Compared with other areas of major state expenditure like K-12, transportation, corrections, institutions of higher education and their leaders are not subject to scrutiny or micro-managemen

While few current analysts believe that this mode of exchange is still the dominant one between policymakers and higher education, it’s worth noting that many higher education organizations and associations still use the level of complexity of higher education as a rationale for reducing government oversight and involvement in the affairs of institutions. Lobbyists for institutions of higher education tend to frame their arguments not in terms of the interests of institutions, but rather in the broad public interests, arguing that what is good for higher education will be good for the country. They also connect this rhetoric with the historical relationship of deference, arguing that higher education as an institution knows best how to handle its own affairs

State Budget Officers Project Postsecondary Finance Is Unsustainable

A National Association of State Budget Officers’ report concludes that the way states and colleges pay for higher education is unsustainable. The report offers recommendations for state lawmakers and campuses to fix the problems, including a focus on performance, tuition controls, and efficiencies. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 03/27/13)

Transfer Students Have To Take Many Courses Twice

STOPPING THE CLOCK ON CREDITS THAT DON’T COUNT
A third of students now transfer sometime during their academic careers, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center says, and a quarter of those change schools more than once. When these students’ credits don’t transfer with them, they churn, seemingly endlessly, in college, piling up debt and wasting time repeating the same courses. It now takes full-time students, on average, 3.8 years to earn a two-year associate’s degree and 4.7 years to get a four-year bachelor’s degree, according to the advocacy organization Complete College America—further increasing the already high cost to families, and, at public universities, states. Only 61 percent of full-time students who set out to earn a four-year bachelor’s degree manage to do it within even eight years, Complete College America reports. The article is from the Hechinger Report ‘

Students With a Few Credits Missing Find A Way to Complete College

The Project Win-Win has helped community colleges and four-year schools in several states find hundreds of ex-students who have either earned enough credits to receive associate degrees or are just a few classes shy of getting them. As the Lumina Foundation-backed project winds down, some participating schools plan to continue the effort on their own. (Huffington Post, 03/17/13)

I have reviewed these posts, and found them packed with useful information

A few days ago we looked at the most important issues to students and parents when it comes to college satisfaction. As a follow up, today we’ve published a report on the factors that persuade students to enroll in a particular college. Please enjoy our infographic on enrollment factors

US Ed Dept Loosens Up On Financial Aid For Learning Versus Credit Hour

Higher Ed Watch 

The U.S. Department of Education took a critical step forward today in moving towards a more flexible and innovative financial aid system-one that privileges (and pays for) learning, rather than time. In a letter released this morning, the Education Department let the world know not only that schools can award federal financial aid based on competency rather than seat time, but that the Department wants them to do so. [Full Article]

Colleges Hate And Love National Rankings

LET’S KILL THE PRESTIGE RACE BEFORE IT KILLS HIGHER ED
Jeff Selingo writes in The Chronicle of Higher Education: Most presidents will say they don’t care about rankings. They just did so again in a forthcoming survey of campus executives, conducted by The Chronicle, in which presidents put improved U.S. News & World Report rankings dead last in a list of measures by which they judge their success. But that message obviously hasn’t filtered down to their PR officers, who bombard the news media with press releases each fall, when the U.S. News rankings are released, or their marketing teams, which stuff this publication and others with advertising right around the time U.S. News sends its reputation survey to college leaders.

Source: Carnegie Foundation