Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations Team is reading this week.
Diverse – NSF has launched it’s long-awaited diversity initiative called INCLUDES. The program will administer small grants later this year to dozens of institutions to test novel ways of broadening participation in science and engineering. Winners of the 2-year, $300,000 pilot grants will be eligible to compete next year for up to five, $12.5 million awards over 5 years. Read more in Science.
The Very Model of a Modern Major University – In 2009, Georgia State University set out to create a better university, in the heart of a large, diverse city, where many of your students are first-generation or low-income, and who face challenges not seen as commonly at a typical flagship institution. It does so with data tracking and analysis and a team of specialty advisors, who increase student persistence and help them graduate into careers that benefit the community and region. Read more in University Business.
Disproportionate Impact – Students from the poorest households are shouldering more of the pain from rising college costs, borrowing at far higher levels as a share of family income than ever. It is now the norm for U.S. students from the lowest income bracket to borrow at least half of their household income to attend most four-year colleges. At 58% of 1,319 four-year colleges with available federal data, students from households earning $30,000 or less a year left those schools during the 2013 and 2014 school years owing a median $15,000 or more in total debt, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Read more in WSJ.
Total Fear of Getting In Line – Speaker Paul Ryan, the highest elected leader and presumptive leader of the Republican party currently, has been working on a conservative policy agenda for the Republicans in Congress and a road map for the Republican presidential nominee. However, with wins in South Carolina and Nevada, Trump becomes more clearly the Republican presumptive nominee, and Ryan and Trump agree on very little. If Trump becomes the nominee, Ryan and all Republicans are expected to fall in line with Trump’s campaign. Will they? Read more in The New York Times.
Cracked Up – As Trump’s insurgency continues to overwhelm the party, the recriminations are growing more scathing. Could Donald Trump (now with three primary wins, including the Nevada Caucus) have been stopped? But the Republican Party did try to stop Trump. It just failed. And until the nature of that failure is appreciated, the strength of Trump’s candidacy is going to be underestimated. Read more in Vox.
Bring in the Billionaires! – As Trump momentum continues to grow, there is still elements at play that could change his fate. Politics is fickle and little things can become big things and sure things can evaporate quickly (ask Hillary in 2004). There are four things that might impact the Trump campaign. Read more in The New York Times.
Cubic Zirconia? – People with more education have higher earnings. Boosting college education is therefore seen by many—including me—as a way to lift people out of poverty, combat growing income inequality, and increase upward social mobility. But how much upward lift does a bachelor’s degree really give to earnings? The answer turns out to vary by family background. Read more in Brookings.
Turn the Ugly Cheek – Division between the President and Congressional Republicans has reached a new low this year. First, Republicans told the White House budget director this month not to bother making the ritual presentation of a spending plan. Then Senate Republicans announced that they would not act on a nominee for the Supreme Court made by the President. Read more in the The New York Times.
Inverse Relationship – Jet fuel prices keep falling, but airline prices are going up quickly…why? Read more in NPR.
In honor of the Academy Awards ceremony this weekend, we enjoyed John Oliver’s take on the Whitewashing controversy connected to this year’s Oscars nominations being nothing but white people. See the take here.
Bucket List – For those visitors to our nation’s capital with a little extra time on their hands (between Hill and agency meetings with Federal Relations, of course), here’s a list of not obvious sites to see when in DC. Read the list of 20 at Curbed.