Duncan: Career ed must show results
Career and technical education must prepare students for postsecondary education or training, said Education Secretary Arne Duncan at a meeting of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium and the federal Office of Vocational and Adult Education. A high school diploma is not enough, he said. Duncan warned that federal funding [...]
Aspen Prize kicks off
The kick-off for the first Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence will be held Monday from noon to 2 at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. It will be streamed live. The $1 million prize will reward a community college that best helps students gain knowledge and skills, complete certificates or degrees and get well-paid jobs. [...]
CC play tells ex-con students’ stories
“Scars: More Than Skin Deep,” an original play based on ex-cons’ stories, is being produced by the Red Rocks Community College theater department on the Lakewood, Colorado campus. As part of the college’s Gateway program, which provides support services and academic help to ex-offenders, students write about their experiences with prison, abuse and drugs. Their [...]
For-profits face tighter state rules
While new federal rules for for-profit colleges are stalled, for-profit colleges face more state-level regulation, reports Stateline. Maryland’s Legislature has passed legislation eliminating all state aid to for-profit schools, banning commissions or bonuses for student recruiting, and requiring for-profit schools to contribute to a fund to protect students if any college in their group breaches [...]
Supports for success
Non-academic supports can help community college students persist and eventually earn a credential, concludes a policy brief by Melinda Mechur Karp of the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. Supports can improve student outcomes in four ways: “creating social relationships, clarifying aspirations and enhancing commitment, developing college know-how, and addressing conflicting demands of [...]
‘The Wire’ guides business, writing class
A class built around “The Wire,” HBO’s acclaimed series on Baltimore cops and drug dealers, combines lessons on business and writing, reports the Skokie Pioneer Press. “What I really love about ‘The Wire’ is that it illustrates business theory in a very straightforward easy-to-follow way,” said Tracy Fulce, who teaches business management at Oakton Community [...]
Cutting Pell wisely
The huge increase in Pell Grant costs — spending has nearly doubled in the last three years — makes cuts inevitable, nearly everyone agrees. Cut Pell wisely, advises a group of economists in a letter to College Board with recommendations for controlling costs with the least harm to low-income college students. Their ideas will be [...]
When aid checks come, students go
When financial aid checks arrive, students vanish, writes Julie White, a community college instructor, on The 2-Year Track. The college gets the aid money, deducts tuition and sends students the rest in a “refund” check to cover living expenses. Of the 27 students who originally enrolled in my course, I have 16 in class today. [...]
No student loans without a repayment plan
Before they receive federal loans, Tidewater Community College students will be required to draw up a personal budget showing how they’ll pay their bills before and after graduation, including student loan repayments, reports Inside Higher Ed. The average one-year loan debt at the Virginia college was $3,990 last year; the college’s cohort default rate for 2008 [...]
California students bond, trade ideas
California community college students discussed ways to improve graduation rates, including peer counseling and textbook swaps, at a San Jose conference organized by Mobilize.org, reports the San Jose Mercury News. De Anza College student Osvoldo Cordero, 20, won a $7,500 prize for his project to assist and organize undocumented students. “Knowledge is power — and [...]
