Can students trust information from admissions offices?
As students choose their colleges for next year, Hechinger contributing editor Jon Marcus speaks on Here and Now about whether they can trust the information they receive from admissions offices. Several have been caught misrepresenting test score and other information to improve the way they look to prospective students and rise up the college rankings. In the [...]
Can we please change the conversation about college admissions?
If you’re spending any time in the company of ambitious high-school seniors or hyper-competitive parents these days, you may be reading Facebook posts with status updates proclaiming acceptances at prestigious colleges: “Dartmouth! Duke! Vassar! Swag! I’m three for three!” You may not read about rejections, but you will certainly hear plenty about them, along with [...]
What does the future hold for college costs and enrollment?
As the new semester gets under way at many colleges and universities, Hechinger’s Jon Marcus speaks with Here & Now host Robin Young about trends in cost and enrollment, and market forces coming to bear in the decision-making process.
Boards of trustees think the price of college is just about right
The boards of trustees and directors who oversee America’s colleges and universities think higher education has gotten too expensive—just not at their own institutions. In a finding that suggests there’s little sense of urgency among governing boards to rein in the cost of college, more than half of 2,500 board members surveyed said higher education [...]
Clock ticks down on billions in tuition tax credits
Among the many tax breaks waiting for Congress to rescue or let tumble off the fiscal cliff is more than $18 billion in savings for families who pay college and university tuition. The American Opportunity Tax Credit expires on December 31st, and, with it, financial relief averaging $1,545 per recipient who pays for college. Compounding [...]
Survey: U.S. higher education must change to remain globally competitive
Nearly half of all Americans have a dim view of the quality of U.S. higher education, and most think it’s not only too expensive but also only a fair or poor return on their investment, according to the results of a new survey. Most of those surveyed—particularly college-aged Americans themselves—agree that U.S. higher education must change [...]
Why Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts education plan backfired
Ask Mitt Romney to name his signature education initiative as governor of Massachusetts and he’ll likely answer that it was the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program. The scholarship, established in 2004, covers tuition at in-state public colleges and universities for students who score in the top 25 percent of their district on the state’s [...]
Report: Scholarships for in-state college students lengthen time to degree
Programs meant to keep high-achievers close to home by providing scholarships to in-state public universities reduce students’ chances of graduating on time, according to a study released on August 8th by researchers at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The study’s authors examined a Massachusetts program launched in 2004 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney that [...]
Ed in the Election: Romney’s student loan plan and Obama’s improv
Mitt Romney, if elected president, would once again shake up the student-loan market, according to The Washington Times. Since March 2010, under legislation pushed by the Obama administration, private-sector banks haven’t had a role in federal loans, which now come directly from the U.S. government. While the Obama administration says the move saves students money, [...]
Practice versus theory: Is teacher education headed for a revolution?
Should colleges that train teachers focus on educational theory, instructing future educators in how children develop and how the brain learns? Or should they focus on the more practical skills teachers need to run classrooms and teach children algebra? Is it possible for training programs to do both well? These are questions that have become [...]
