States request funding waivers from US Department of Education to keep COVID-19 related aid
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Eight states and one territory are asking the Department of Education to waive a requirement that stipulates they must continue funding higher education at or above current levels in order to keep the federal dollars they received during the pandemic. Each state provided its own justification for the request, but some higher education…
Read More about States request funding waivers from US Department of Education to keep COVID-19 related aidNational Survey of Student Engagement reports students have positive perceptions of teachers during the pandemic
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Students had positive perceptions of faculty teaching during the pandemic and of how professors adapted their courses despite online and hybrid teaching challenges. Those are the findings released Tuesday by the National Survey of Student Engagement. The results were part two of its annual report, “Engagement Insights—Survey Findings on the Quality of Undergraduate…
Read More about National Survey of Student Engagement reports students have positive perceptions of teachers during the pandemicWhat Does the Shift to Test-Optional Admissions Mean for Educational Equity?
STANFORD UNIVERSITY — Performance on standardized tests is strongly correlated with socioeconomic status and family background. That relationship, the panelists in Tuesday’s conversation, “Test Scores Optional: What It Means for Access to Higher Education,” largely agreed upon. But they also concluded that simply shifting to a test-optional admissions system — as many colleges and universities have done…
Read More about What Does the Shift to Test-Optional Admissions Mean for Educational Equity?Opinion: How colleges can support students with mental health disabilities
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Neuroscientists and psychologists are moving toward a deeper appreciation of our inherent human neurodiversity. We are all differently abled. The majority are neurotypical—or statistically “normal”—while others are more statistically rare. For one of us, Ashley, a graduate student with bipolar disorder, her brain falls into this “statistically rare” category. Although her particular neurodiversity…
Read More about Opinion: How colleges can support students with mental health disabilitiesColleges comply with state laws rolling back mask mandates
INSIDE HIGHER ED — A string of states lifting indoor mask mandates means changes are in store for a number of public colleges in the U.S., though others will continue with face coverings for the foreseeable future. Following a slowdown in the latest COVID-19 surge, a handful of states across the country have dropped mask mandates in…
Read More about Colleges comply with state laws rolling back mask mandatesThe US Education Department releases plans to renew gainful employment standard for colleges
INSIDE HIGHER ED — The U.S. Education Department has proposed to again impose regulations to measure the gainful employment of graduates of for-profit colleges and nondegree programs at nonprofit colleges. The proposal was made in advance of next week’s continuation of negotiated rule making on various student aid regulations. Negotiated rule making requires a consensus among those…
Read More about The US Education Department releases plans to renew gainful employment standard for collegesUS Department of Education updates College Scorecard tool
NPR — The College Scorecard has gotten a makeover. And no, this has nothing to do with your March Madness bracket. The Scorecard is an online trove of federal data that can help prospective students choose the college that’s right for them – and, just maybe, avoid a lifetime of student debt and heartache. The site, collegescorecard.ed.gov,…
Read More about US Department of Education updates College Scorecard toolHow the pandemic could negatively impact the progress of Black and Hispanic college students in Los Angeles
INSIDE HIGHER ED — A new report from the Campaign for College Opportunity, a California-based research and policy advocacy organization, highlights ongoing equity gaps for Black and Latinx students pursuing higher education in Los Angeles County. The report, released today, describes some notable gains in Black and Latinx students’ access to college and their academic outcomes. However,…
Read More about How the pandemic could negatively impact the progress of Black and Hispanic college students in Los AngelesUS House of Representatives passes College Transparency Act
INSIDE HIGHER ED — The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved an amendment to add the College Transparency Act to another bill, which the House then passed. Under the College Transparency Act, colleges would be required to collect and submit data to the Department of Education regarding student enrollment, persistence, transfer and completion measures for all…
Read More about US House of Representatives passes College Transparency ActUS college completion rate rises over previous year
INSIDE HIGHER ED — The national six-year completion rate for students who started college in 2015 reached 62.2 percent, according to a new report out today from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. That’s an increase of 1.2 percentage points over the fall 2014 cohort and 1.5 percentage points over the 2013 cohort. “Students who started college six years ago have…
Read More about US college completion rate rises over previous year