GUEST COMMENTARY

Higher Education in the State of the Union: The Missing Piece

February 5, 2010

DONALD E. HELLER, Director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education, Pennsylvania State University

President Obama's State of the Union address last week was notable for the attention paid to higher education issues.  There was lots there to chew on for those of us in colleges and universities, and his proposals have received voluminous coverage in the press - as well as here at EPI (see http://www.educationalpolicy.org/news/PR/PR_100128_SOTU.html).

For those interested in how the federal government can help promote access and success in higher education, it is hard to argue with the specific proposals the President put forward, especially in light of the fiscal situation in which the nation finds itself.  While he had previously proposed many of them, featuring them in the SOTU was telling in itself.  It was all there: increases in Pell Grants, elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan program in favor of Direct Lending, increased tax credits for higher education, and real income-contingent repayment of federal loans.  And just to remind us that it's not all about what the federal government can do, the President told us, ""And by the way, it's time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs - because they too have a responsibility to help solve this problem."

The piece of the college access puzzle the President did not talk about, however, is one that we still must solve - and that is the complexity of the entire financial aid system, READ MORE...

Gifts to colleges and universities declined almost 12 percent in the 2009 fiscal year, to $27.85 billion, according to the Council for Aid to Education’s annual survey of voluntary support of education. It was the steepest decline in the survey’s 53-year history.
 Source: New York Times

Administration Outlines Proposed Changes to ‘No Child’ Law
Sam Dillon, NY Times
In outlining its budget request, the Obama administration said it would seek an extensive rewrite of the main federal law governing public schools, known as No Child Left Behind, and would seek to replace the law’s much-criticized system for rating schools based on student test scores.

Education Chief Apologizes for 'Dumb Thing' on New Orleans
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has spent the past couple days backpedaling from comments he made Sunday suggesting that Hurricane Katrina was good for New Orleans' failing schools. But, while he's apologizing for poor word choice, his comments echo a truth spoken by many in New Orleans.

Unions Balk at School Aid Program
Robert Knox, Boston Globe
Although many school districts in Massachusetts have rushed to take part in a federal program that offers new funds in exchange for cooperation on educational reforms, a number of others will have to sit on the sidelines because their teacher unions opted out.

Student ID Cards Sport New Digital Features
Katie Ash, Education Week
Student-identification cards have evolved relatively quickly from laminated badges with a student’s name and picture to all-purpose electronic cards that can now be used to check out library books, buy lunch, open lockers, and even track students’ comings and goings.

Maryland Makes Huge Strides in Advanced Placement
Greg Toppo, USA Today
Driven by a push to improve high school graduation rates and college-going rates for students nationwide, states have heavily pushed AP courses over the past decade. And students, lured in many cases by the benefits of weighted grade-point averages — and in some cases, cash — have flocked to AP. They took about 2.9 million tests last year.

What's a Degree Really Worth?
Mary Pilon, Wall Street Journal
A college education may not be worth as much as you think. For years, higher education was touted as a safe path to professional and financial success. Graduates, it has long been argued, would be able to build solid careers that would earn them far more than their high-school educated counterparts.

The Education Exception
Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed
As President Obama and his aides unveiled the administration's fiscal 2011 budget with lots of talk about reining in discretionary spending, they largely exempted programs important to higher education from the budget restraint they urged.

State Universities Want More Students to Graduate
USA Today
For years, American colleges and universities have focused on getting more students to seek higher education. Now they want to make sure more students leave campus with a diploma. Despite deep cuts in state funding, public university systems around the country are launching campaigns to boost graduation rates, especially among low-income and minority students who trail in earning degrees.

20 Jobs -- No Degree, But Big Salaries
CNN
While the decision to pursue a degree or to enter the work force is fraught with pros and cons, earning a lot of money isn't. Not that money means everything, but wouldn't we all like to see some bigger numbers on our next paycheck? If you're in the market for a job that doesn't require a degree but does come with a nice salary, this article includes 20 jobs to consider and their average annual salary.

Colleges Take Action to Boost Minority Grad Rates
Zach Miners, US News and World Report
Many colleges and universities place a premium on enrolling a racially diverse student body. But at most of these schools, their graduates might not be as varied as the students who entered as freshmen. Only about 40 percent of underrepresented minority students—blacks, Latinos, and American Indians—graduate from college within six years; the same statistic for non-minorities is 60 percent.

isabled Students Wait for Specialist Equipment Grants
Katherine Sellgren, BBC News
Almost 12,500 students in England are still waiting for grants to pay for specialist equipment, figures from the Student Loans Company show. The statistics reveal two thirds of students with a disability or special needs are still waiting for money.

At a Haiti School's Reopening, a Lesson in Sharing
Mitchell Landsberg, LA Times
Monday was the first day that schools in Haiti could reopen after the earthquake, which was centered near the capital, Port-au-Prince. The entire national school system -- already among the poorest in the world -- had been shut down, although schools in much of the country were not directly affected. Most schools in Port-au-Prince are eyeing a March restart, at least those that can find a safe place to hold classes. An estimated 70% to 80% of the schools in the capital were damaged or destroyed, and no one is yet sure whether the rest are safe to enter.

'Significant Changes' Proposed for Qld Schoolchildren
ABC News- Australia
The Queensland Government has released a Green Paper which outlines significant changes to Queensland's education system. The discussion paper proposes year seven become the first year of high school from 2014.  The restructure is expected to cost about $350 million.

Pakistan School Bombing Kills U.S. Soldiers, Children
Lehaz Ali, Ottawa Citizen
A bomb blast in Pakistan claimed by the Taliban killed eight people Wednesday, including three U.S. soldiers and children, at the opening of a school just rebuilt after an Islamist attack. The same school was blown up last year and Western groups have been working to promote girls' education in parts of the northwest, where Taliban-linked militants opposed to co-education have destroyed hundreds of schools.

Rise in Ethnic Minority Students at UK Universities
Katherine Sellgren, BBC News
Ethnic minority groups are better represented in UK universities than in the general population, says research from a diversity in business charity. In 2007-08, 16% of students from the UK studying for degrees were from a black, Asian or ethnic minority background. This compared to 14.2% of the 18-24-year-old age group as a whole.

Alternative Education Programs
In 2009, approximately 150,000 Minnesota public school students enrolled in alternative education programs. These programs ranged from area learning centers that served high school students full time in stand-alone facilities, to “targeted services” that served elementary school students in before- or after-school programs. Most students enrolled in alternative education programs—75 percent—enrolled only in “extended-time” programs such as before- or after-school programs or summer school. This evaluation finds that students in kindergarten through eighth grade who received targeted services showed higher-than-expected growth when compared with other students and national norms.

NATIONAL CAPITOL SUMMIT, April 12-13, 2010, Washington, DC

RETENTION 2010, International Conference on Student Success, June 9-11, 2010, Chicago, IL