The coming change in how student loan default rates are calculated may mean bad news for some colleges and universities. With the new calculations, the rate at which a group of students later defaults on loan payments will increase for most institutions, and schools with a particular default rate for three consecutive years will lose […]
Textbook publishing has long been seen as an impenetrable business, with five major players controlling most of the nearly $14 billion industry. But in recent years, the shift to digital and open-access content has led to a proliferation of free and low-cost alternatives. Meanwhile, spiraling costs, massive student debt, changing consumer demands and public as […]
Georgetown University officials had a bit of an epiphany recently about the impact of their noncredit courses. While the offerings had been around since the 1990s, administrators hadn't realized the big benefits they could bring to the institution. "What started as fairly standard, adult-education, personal-interest type of courses has evolved into a major part of […]
Rather than dealing with the intensive labor involved in sending and receiving paper transcripts—and frustration from students and graduates accustomed to automation—most colleges and universities have implemented electronic transcript capabilities. The process allows administrators to capture lots of valuable electronic data, but the majority of schools are not utilizing that information beyond sending or receiving […]
Regardless of function, many of the facilities completed within the past year on college and university campuses were designed to create connections. These buildings may help campus groups and departments collaborate, or they may enhance town-gown relations. Linking the facility to other parts of campus through a deliberate architectural feature is another way project planners […]
There have been continuous outcries in recent years for colleges and universities to lower their costs, yet in almost every area those costs continue to rise. We all know that health care premiums, utility bills and food are among costs that are beyond a college's control. Institutions also must spend to deliver new or enhanced […]
Five years after the Great Recession's official end, higher ed endowments and fundraising are finally recovering, but there is no rising financial tide that's lifting all boats—especially smaller ones that depend heavily on tuition. Instead, a new "economic normal" is being keenly felt at smaller, tuition-driven universities and colleges, forcing campus leaders to diversify their […]
Faculty and students at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania have been using Mediasite technology for six years to record lectures for flipped instruction, classroom projects and special guests. The events are recorded and automatically fed into a video management and creation platform, My Mediasite. Some classrooms are equipped with multiple cameras to capture a fully immersive, […]
As the academic retail industry faces unprecedented changes in student behavior and rapid advances in technology, campus bookstores need to rise above the transaction. Today's campus bookstores must focus on delivering a superior experience that supports and celebrates the cultural and academic aspirations of students, faculty and alumni. This web seminar, originally broadcast on December […]
One proven way to improve retention is by supplementing traditional academic advising with student success coaching. Student success coaching helps students fit school into life and life into school while building up the skills they need to be successful, including study skills, time management, and stress management. As institutions explore the possibility of starting coaching […]