A summer ‘bridge’ to college
For students with weak academic skills, a summer “bridge” to college-level classes can improve the odds of success, reports Education Week. “Summer bridge programs can provide an important head start on college,” said Elisabeth Barnett, a senior research associate at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the Community College Research Center in New York. “They can increase [...]
After college, what will you earn?
If college is an investment, students should have some idea what they’ll earn with a degree in nursing or marketing or whatever from College X vs. College Y, writes Daniel de Vise in College, Inc. Soon more information will be available about post-college employment. Especially as college continues to get more expensive, students rightfully want to [...]
Low-cost credit for free online courses
Students will be able to earn college credit for free online courses thanks to a partnership between the Saylor Foundation, which offers free, self-paced college courses, and StraighterLine, which offers low-cost online courses. Saylor students will be able to take a StraighterLine exam to earn credit backed by the American Council on Education, reports the Chronicle of Higher [...]
Texas innovates on price, not college costs
The $10,000 bachelor’s degree will be a reality starting next year at University of Texas of the Permian Basin. UTPB “science scholars” will be able to earn a degree in chemistry, computer science, geology, information systems or mathematics for $2,500 a year, compared to the regular cost of $6,452 a year. “Science scholars” must be [...]
Completion — and quality
College completion isn’t enough, writes Elaine Maimon, president of Governors State University, in response to the January edition of Liberal Education on the completion agenda. A degree must be more than a credential; it must represent an educational milestone. Without more underserved students completing college, demands for “quality” are elitist. Without quality, defined as meaningful educational [...]
College credits without college classes
Prior learning assessment — college credit for skills and knowledge acquired outside the classroom — is “poised to break into the mainstream in a big way,” predicts Inside Higher Ed. ”The national college completion push and the expanding adult student market are driving the growth.” The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and the [...]
Equal access, but less success
More students are starting — and completing — college, according to Replenishing Opportunity in America, an Education Trust report on its Access to Success Initiative. “Improvements are driven largely by African-American, Latino, American-Indian and low-income students.” At community colleges, low-income and minority students are well represented. At four-year institutions, the access gap for low-income freshmen [...]
‘A’ students don’t belong in remedial ed
Are College Entrants Overdiagnosed as Underprepared? More A students are being placed in remedial college classes, notes researcher Judith Scott-Clayton on the New York Times‘ Economix blog. “For students with high school grade-point averages between 3.5 and 4.0, remediation rates have more than doubled.” It’s not grade inflation, she writes, because ”the percentage of students [...]
From combat to college
To protect veterans and service members from aggressive, dishonest college recruiters, President Obama signed an executive order last week requiring a “know before you owe” fact sheet, counseling on how to complete a degree and stronger oversight of improper recruitment practices. Recently Student Veterans of America revoked charters for campus groups at 26 for-profit colleges, charging [...]
