Student loans in the U.S. total nearly $1.7 trillion, and at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump temporarily paused federal student loan payments and dropped interest rates to zero. The original suspension, which began on March 13, 2020, was only meant to last two months. It has now been extended by both President … Continue reading “Did You Know? Another Pause on Student Loan Repayments”
Student debt isn’t necessarily always bad. For some, taking out the necessary amount of loans to fund one’s education may be a prudent decision. But before taking out a loan, students should consider how much they actually need to borrow, from whom they should borrow, and whether they will likely be able to repay the … Continue reading “North Carolina Aims to Halt Predatory Student Loan Lending”
The coronavirus pandemic may be nearing its end, but that does not mean a return to normal in all cases. Even before the virus pushed classes out of the physical classroom to online, America’s system of colleges and universities was spiraling out of control with high costs and stagnant innovation. Every year, families about to … Continue reading “States Need to Take the Lead in Controlling College Costs”
Since the onset of the pandemic, nationwide enrollment in both undergraduate and graduate fields has drastically shifted. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center came out with a report on college enrollment in 2021. During the Spring 2021 term, undergraduate enrollment decreased by 4.9 percent, and graduate enrollment increased by 4.6 percent. In Spring 2020, overall … Continue reading “Did You Know? Enrollment Drops for Undergraduates, Rises for Graduate Students”
Collegiate esports—competitive video gaming—has grown dramatically in recent years. Small private colleges and large state universities alike have built programs to attract students, grow name recognition, and pull in sponsorships. However, the expensive esports arenas in which students compete, and the annual budget commitments that come with new programs, have only attracted sponsors in a … Continue reading “The Edifice Complex Has Come for Esports”
COVID-19 has revolutionized how we think about online college teaching. Until last spring, two perspectives predominated. One argued that massively enrolled online classes presented by impressive teachers or prestigious universities would increase efficiency while preserving quality. The other worried about the quality of online classes, and that the gap between those able to afford in-person … Continue reading “How Can Professors Inspire Students to Want to Learn?”
Parents will go to all sorts of lengths to give their children a leg up. In Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal, journalist Nicole LaPorte digs into how and why parents decided to work with the “college counselor” Rick Singer. LaPorte describes Singer’s strategies to place students in highly … Continue reading “The Rot of the Prestigious Colleges”
Public higher education was once America’s great enabler, permitting young people from lower-class backgrounds to attend college for very little money and to rise as far as their abilities and drives would take them. That may no longer be the case, according to economists James Koch and Richard Cebula. In their 2020 book, Runaway College … Continue reading “Why Don’t Governing Boards Rein in College Costs?”
Colleges and universities used to proclaim that their mission was to give students a broad education that would expand their intellectual vistas—one that would open their minds. Most still say that, but the sad truth is that what passes for higher education these days often does the opposite. Many professors and some whole academic fields … Continue reading “Higher Education Is Shutting Student Minds”
An ill wind has buffeted higher education in the year of the plague. Workers have been laid off, the ranks of the professoriate have shrunk, and enrollment declines across the industry threaten the long-term finances of all but the most prestigious institutions. While the pain has not been as deep as some experts feared, a … Continue reading “Did You Know? The Higher Ed Bureaucracy Won the Pandemic”