Higher Ed News
September 27, 2012
Supreme Court Case Calls into Question the Use of Race in Higher Ed Admissions
On October 10th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas (UT)—the first Supreme Court case on the use of race in higher education admissions since Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003. The case asks that the Court either declare UT’s admissions policy to be in violation of Grutter v. Bollinger…
September 21, 2012
Is It All About the Money?
As a recent post discussed, if you attend college, you are more likely to earn more money. But, as you might imagine, the financial value of higher education depends on what program you choose and where. Information on the annual earnings of students from different programs and institutions is exactly what Sen. Ron Wyden, a…
September 17, 2012
Reseach Shows College is Worth It. Again.
The NY Times reports that researchers at the Brookings Institution have summarized why college is worth it. Their chart shows the percent of people at each income level who have various levels of educational attainment. Not surprisingly, the conclusion is that more education opens the gateway to better, higher-paying jobs. A few findings to consider:…
2012 Democratic and Republican Higher Education Platforms
Now that both Democrats and Republicans have adopted party platforms at their respective conventions, what do we know about their plans for higher education? Below is a quick overview of each party’s higher education goals and associated action steps (past, present, or future) adapted directly from the parties’ formally-adopted platforms: DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM GOAL 1: To…
September 13, 2012
UW Slips Slightly in US News Rankings: Here’s Why
US News and World Report released its annual college rankings Tuesday and the UW dropped from 42 to 46 in the National Universities category, and from 10 to 13 among public universities. This drop isn’t as severe as it might seem. As noted by the Seattle Times, this change is a relatively small one. In the…
September 7, 2012
Pell Expenditures Decrease as Recipients Increase
The Pell Grant program, the largest federal student grant program, was expected to be $20 billion short of the $40 billion price estimated for FY12 (which ended July 1). However, the Department of Education surprised many with newly-released data showing the federal government not only spent well under that estimate at only $33.4 billion, but…
August 27, 2012
Washington Monthly National Universities Ranking Released
Today, the Washington Monthly released its 2012 national university rankings. Unlike the better known U.S. News & World Report survey, which considers only “widely accepted indicators of excellence [such as] freshman retention and graduation rates and the strength of the faculty”, the Washington Monthly focuses on schools’ “contribution to the public good”. It rates schools…
July 31, 2012
Credit Agencies Release Reports on the Financial Health of the Higher Education Sector
Late last week, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s released a revised assessment of the financial health of the higher education sector. Not surprisingly, both agencies noted that the sector’s financial risks have intensified since January: state budget appropriations continue to fall, operating expenses are outpacing tuition revenue growth, and diminishing family net worth could affect…
Harkin Issues Damning For-Profit Higher Education Report
Senator Harkin (D-Iowa) released a much anticipated for-profit higher education report today, detailing the sector’s disproportionate use of federal funds, predatory recruitment tactics, insufficient student support programs, and dismal student outcomes. The lengthy report contains alarming evidence that the colleges included in the two-year investigation – with few exceptions – engaged in behavior to maximize…
July 12, 2012
More on College Affordability
The Institute for Higher Education Policy recently published a brief addressing the complexity and confusion surrounding the issue of college affordability. Written by Sandy Baum and Saul Schwartz, Is College Affordable? In Seach of a Meaningful Definition succinctly addresses several familiar issues: The conflation of increased or high prices with low affordability (where the former is…
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