Making heads or tails of the many factors influencing student outcomes—while necessary—is daunting and difficult. For one university, a single wagging tail is making a dent in several barriers to student success. Resident comfort dog Zoey gives some emotional relief to students living away from their family and pets. In Zoey's 40-plus-hour work weeks, she […]
Some colleges and universities don't need to market themselves to prospective students. Names like Harvard, Princeton and Stanford are the academic equivalent of Rolex, Tiffany and Mercedes. Other schools don't have it so good. So more of them are advertising these days. But some, paradoxically, seem to do it without much use of what is […]
California's colleges and universities have made strides in providing mental health care to students—when higher ed as a whole has struggled to keep up with a growing demand for services. Recent studies suggest that up to one-third of college students suffer mental health problems. California's Mental Health Act, passed in 2004, assesses a 1 percent […]
Students, of course, have lives beyond the classroom. That's why campus success initiatives in 2016 will spread further beyond the classroom and academic sectors, engaging students in a spectrum of activities and support designed to steer them toward a meaningful diploma and fulfilling life after graduation. Highlighting this trend is Texas Woman's University, which just […]
Much of what we read today about higher education tends to dwell on constraints and reductions, but at least one sector of academe is actually growing. New medical schools are in various states of planning, development and accreditation, while existing schools are expanding class sizes, portending perhaps the greatest increase in this sector since World […]
The University of Vermont offers its students allergen-free, gluten-free and kosher food stations—plus cage-free eggs, fair trade coffee and locally sourced organic food (including Vermont maple syrup). Hunger cravings can be satisfied at any of three dining halls and 12 retail locations on campus, yet meal prices haven't increased at rates higher than the cost […]
What do you see as the biggest trend in meal plan design? "Meal plans are being designed to provide the greatest balance of convenience and value for the meal plan holder. You are seeing the addition of various types of unlimited access plans, meal plans with large balances of declining balance dollars for retail purchases, […]
Over the years, college applications have become increasingly similar, with seemingly generic questions and check-boxes that often leave prospective students to wonder, "What does this have to do with me?" That's part of what the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success aims to change. The goal is not just to revise a few forms, but for […]
When making decisions about Hope College's website redesign, project team members found themselves looking at a photo of Adam, an 18-year-old freshman, to gauge what he might think is the most logical place for a piece of content—or whether he thinks the content should be there at all. And then, knowing Adam's mom is very […]
For centuries, colleges and universities have been exempt from paying property taxes, and there's no good reason to change. But that's not stopping people from trying. From Connecticut to California, critics are questioning property tax exemptions while arguing that colleges are getting a free ride on the backs of taxpayers. With states and municipalities still […]
