December 15, 2010
Interactive Maps: Endless Possibilities
We are pretty excited by opportunities to view and present large sets of complex data via interactive maps. The New York Times has developed one such map that allows you to explore the recently released US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey results by zip code, city or census tract. Mapping America: Every City, Every Block…
Op-Eds Call for Increased Flexibility for Public Higher Ed in WA
Three op-eds published recently by local newspapers outline the changing relationship between Washington State and its public higher education institutions. All three op-eds call for the state to increase institutional flexibility in the face of large budget cuts. Phyllis Wise, Interim President, UW: The new normal State public university students will bear bigger share of…
December 13, 2010
Legislature Passes Second Supplemental Budget in Seven Hours on Saturday
The Washington State Legislature quickly passed a second supplemental budget for Fiscal Year 2011 on Saturday, which closed $580 million of the FY11 $1.1 billion deficit. More cutting must be done; we anticipate that this action will occur in a final supplemental budget, which would be adopted in January 2011, likely as the first action of…
December 10, 2010
Americans Believe Higher Ed Drives Economy, Unwilling to Pay More Taxes
The results of a Stanford University/AP education poll conducted in September were released yesterday. The representative group of respondents confirmed earlier data on the same topic, mainly that Americans believe strongly that higher education is a vital economic engine and that more Americans should participate in it, but that they are not very willing to…
December 9, 2010
Protests Continue as Britain Approves Sharp Fee Increases
The Chronicle reports that British Parliament has approved controversial higher education reforms that are expected to skyrocket college prices by as much as three times current rates (see previous post: Britain Rethinks Higher Ed Financing). Elsewhere, the Chronicle details ongoing student and faculty protests across Europe in response to these and similar proposals in other…
UC Commission Proposes Familiar Strategies for Cutting Costs
The University of California Commission on the Future recently released its final report addressing potential solutions for keeping public higher education in California vibrant in the face of declining resources. A group that included regents, administrators, faculty and students, the Commission’s 50 page report recommended a host of actions for UC to consider, including: Expand…
Federal Scrutiny of For-Profit Colleges Turns to Recruitment of Veterans
Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the US Senate HELP Committee, has released another report on the practices of the for-profit higher education industry, this time focusing on whether or not such institutions are taking advantage of US veterans in an effort to capture newly increased GI Bill education benefits (read our earlier posts on this…
December 8, 2010
Loss of Federal Stimulus Funds About to Hit State Budgets Hard
The National Conference of State Legislatures released their November 2010 State Budget Update today. While the report notes that many states are experiencing some level of stabilization in revenue collections, and beginning to be more optimistic about the general revenue outlook, they are at the same time facing unprecedented pressures on the demand for services…
Federal Maintenance of Effort Requirement Makes State Financial Aid Programs Vulnerable
Both the American Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009 and the 2010 Education Jobs Fund provided federal funding for education. In exchange for accepting federal funds, both fiscal relief vehicles came with Maintenance of Effort (MOE) provisions requiring states to continue financial support for higher education institutions at certain minimum levels. However, some forms of state…
December 2, 2010
Seattle PI Highlights UW Initiatives
The Seattle PI drew attention to two major UW Initiatives that were recently highlighted in a message from Provost Mary Lidstrom. Be sure to check out the new websites detailing both of these new efforts: Program Evaluation Initiative Organizational Effectiveness Initiative