A series of initiatives championed by Gov. Bill Haslam in Tennessee—home of the Tennessee Promise free community college initiative—promotes higher education to learners of all ages. The Reconnect + Complete initiative for degree completion aims for an elusive demographic: non-traditional students, many with families and careers, whose college experiences were cut short by illness, financial […]

A resolution to the now-standard debate over college athlete compensation was reached, and measures of opposition were quick to follow. While student athletes cannot be paid for their efforts in a paycheck, as of Aug. 1, the NCAA permits “cost of attendance”—a $2,000 to $5,000 yearly stipend given in addition to scholarships, intended to cover […]

Earlier this year, former College of DuPage President Robert Breuder almost won himself a $763,000 golden parachute to leave the institution in March 2016, three years before his contract expired; that contract has since been voided by the college’s board, and the package reduced to $495,000. In an apparent response, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has […]

States that have not offered veterans discounted tuition at public universities are now required by law to do so, reflecting the oft-nomadic lifestyle of vets and their need for greater access to higher education. In-state tuition for this group, which includes 17 states and the District of Columbia, became nationally mandated on July 1, 2015, through […]

Study abroad has been reserved traditionally for upperclassmen, but institutions that include Michigan State, Kent State (Ohio), Florida State, American University (D.C.) and the University of New Haven (Conn.) are offering students the chance to learn overseas before or during their first year of college. Michigan State launched Freshman Seminar Abroad in 2003 with organized […]

The push for campuswide sustainability and a fresh commitment to student health drive institutions to rethink their dining strategies. This might mean buying more food from local farmers and better educating students about their dietary habits. Along those lines, Stanford University is the first higher ed institution in the nation to earn the United States […]

More students now do their research on the web, bypassing resources offered by their campus libraries as digital usurps print in curricula, a recent survey says. Among the 4,300 students surveyed, less than 40 percent reported doing research at their library. About half used the library’s online databases. Still, 77 percent said they study alone […]

Online learning, specifically MOOCs, has inspired many doomsday forecasts regarding the fate of traditional higher education—which, of course, has yet to collapse. But the predicted death of MOOCs—due to erratic completion rates, lack of formal student support and concerns about the financial returns for institutions—hasn’t come true either. In an effort to add quantifiable worth […]