DC Appeals Court takes up college tuition refund cases

March 14, 2022

INSIDE HIGHER ED — Two separate lawsuits against American University and George Washington University have new life after an appeals court revived cases that allege both institutions violated contractual obligations to students when they shifted to online instruction in early 2020 at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. At the core of the issue is the refusal

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How the American Rescue Plan has affected higher education

March 14, 2022

DIVERSE ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION — The American Rescue Plan (ARP) last year provided one of history’s biggest one-time infusions of federal dollars to community colleges, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and other higher education institutions through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). On Monday, the Department of Education (ED) announced a state-by-state breakdown of

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Thousands of borrowers eligible to participate Public Service Loan Forgiveness program amid recent changes

March 14, 2022

CNN — The Department of Education said Wednesday that it has so far identified 100,000 borrowers who are eligible for student debt cancellation due to the changes the agency made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in October. The cancellations for those people are expected to total about $6.2 billion in federal student debt relief.

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Governor of New Mexico signs bill making college tuition-free for most residents

March 14, 2022

CNN — For most New Mexico residents, college will now be officially tuition-free. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed on Friday Senate Bill 140, otherwise known as the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship Act. First introduced in 2019, the plan will waive tuition for any students attending any in-state public school or tribal college, including community

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Why young Americans are hesitant to go to college

March 14, 2022

DIVERSE ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION — Among the myriad of issues impacting Americans, higher education does not rank high on the list, says one of the nation’s most influential pollsters. The cost of living, COVID-19, immigration, crime and climate issues continue to occupy the attention of most Americans, said Kristen Soltis Anderson, who is the author of

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How Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination will affect higher education

March 7, 2022

DIVERSE ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION — President Joe Biden kept his campaign promise and nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Black woman, to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer. If confirmed by the Senate, Jackson, 51, would become the first Black woman to be a Supreme Court Justice. “I’m thrilled to hear

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College faculty and staff face burnout from two years of COVID

March 7, 2022

THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION — Right now, your best midlevel manager is updating her résumé. Your hardest-working director is controlling his excitement after learning the salary range for a private-sector opening. Your most trustworthy entry-level professional is writing a resignation letter because her new corporate position doubles her pay and doesn’t require nights or weekends. Two

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A look at the reasons behind smaller college enrollment

March 7, 2022

INSIDE HIGHER ED — Much has been written about the Great Resignation. The sheer scale is obvious: about 25 million workers left their jobs in the second half of 2021 alone. More ambiguous is the downstream impact on the labor markets: Where will people choose to work, how will they prefer to work (remote or in-person) and

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How lower college enrollment will affect the future job market

March 7, 2022

VOICE OF AMERICA — Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Americans going to college has dropped by 1 million. Researchers estimated the total could be as high as 3 million over the last 10 years. Education experts in the United States have recently talked about the reasons leading to the decline. They include

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Invasion of Ukraine sparks protests at colleges

March 7, 2022

THE WASHINGTON POST — Maria Smereka, a third-year student at Pennsylvania State University, spent late Wednesday and early Thursday watching the news come in as Russia launched missile attacks near Ukraine’s capital. Her parents and siblings were born in Ukraine and immigrated to the United States before she was born. The 20-year-old grew up in

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