The concept of getting credit for competency rather than classroom time is a wonderful one. Yet, reported by Education Dive, an American Institutes for Research and Eduventures survey indicates only 5% of institutions have at least one full Competency-Based Education (CBE) program. Many institutions claim that financial aid barriers, including regulations that govern what types […]

The University of Utah has joined the small club of major research universities offering income-share agreement (ISA) financing options for their students. Reported by Education Dive, University of Utah students can receive up to $10,000 per semester in exchange for 2.85% of the student’s income after graduation for up to 10 years depending on their […]

In a world where many are questioning the value of higher education, are we doing ourselves any favors with the language we use when defending it? Reported by Education Dive, this year’s Association of American Colleges and Universities conference focused on “reclaiming the narrative on the value of higher education”. One potential conclusion? That our […]

For liberal arts institutions looking to take advantage of the enrollment growth power of coding and computer science courses, should they build them from scratch or partner? Reported by EdSurge, Dominican University of California has partnered with the Make School coding bootcamp to create a new minor in computer science, while helping Make School add […]

How can we increase under-represented demographics in our graduate programs? Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, while non-white students are currently underrepresented in graduate school, receiving only 15% of doctorates while making up 30% of the population, City University of New York has created a Pipeline Fellows Program largely designed to better educate their […]

For black student Moneta Kai-Price, coming to an institution like Rutgers University, it was hard to find other black students to connect with. So he started a group chat for black students through the group messaging app, GroupMe, that now has nearly 2,000 members. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, group chats and virtual […]

Robots are all over George Mason University’s campus. But right now, they’re just delivering pizzas. Reported by Education Dive, self-driving bots are currently making on-campus deliveries from a handful of local restaurants and coffee shops. Students can use an app to order to the food, and then access the delivery when it arrives. The takeaway? […]

661,000 low-income students left $2.6 billion in financial aid on the table last year. Reported by Education Dive, one third of students who didn’t complete a FAFSA didn’t think they were eligible for aid, and 23% said they didn’t have enough information about how to do the paperwork. The takeaway? How do we make sure […]

With studies showing how much students value on-campus mentors, and how often they don’t have one, Denison University decided to build a system that encouraged these relationships. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Denison University freshman are paired with a professor at the very beginning of their college experience as part of a one-credit […]

While providing technical support for online students is essential, online faculty new to the modality often need a great deal of help as well. Reported by EdSurge, creating technical support systems for faculty new to online education is essential. From establishing communication lines with instructional designers, to facilitating online pedagogy training sessions and ongoing support, […]

How can faculty encourage interaction between online students? Reported by EdSurge,  while student-to-student engagement is one of the most valued parts of higher education, it can be hard to facilitate these interactions online. Fortunately, there are many tools designed to encourage online interaction such as FlipGrid which allows you to post a video question and […]

Did NYU’s medical school move to free tuition last fall impact enrollment? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, the answer is a big whopping yes, with applications increased by 47%, including a 102% increase from underrepresented groups. The takeaway? Future debt fears are very real scare factors for students – especially for low-income students and families. […]

Are black schoolteachers the secret to increasing black student college enrollment? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, a new National Bureau of Economic Research study shows that black students assigned to a black teacher in grades K-3 are 7% more likely to graduate high school and 13% more likely to enroll in college than their peers. […]

Is “I’m going to play video games for a living, I don’t need to go to college” no longer a valid excuse? Reported by Encoura, Becker College has led the way as the first institution to offer a B.S. in ESports Management. And many institutions are following suit, including Syracuse University’s partnership with Twitch, the […]

How can we nudge students into better study habits? Reported by EAB, Colorado State University’s Anne Cleary teaches an undergraduate course called “The Science of Learning” to help students understand data-driven strategies to optimize knowledge retention. These strategies include how spacing out study sessions is more effective than cramming, and that testing yourself on the […]

And the best college town in 2019 is… Reported by EAB, Austin, Texas topped Wallethub’s list of best college towns in the country. Factors included wallet-friendliness, academic and economic opportunities, and social environment. Rounding out the top 5, include Orlando, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Provo, Utah; and Rexburg, Idaho. The takeaway? How do we better […]

Do institutions need to consider launching a new Internet of Things degree program? Reported by Campus Technology, with Amazon Echos and other smart devices, electronics and appliances taking over the modern household, curriculum or even a dedicated degree program that focuses on this kind of engineering and computer science may be warranted. The takeaway? Computer […]

The recent “Freeing the Textbook” survey by the Babson Survey Research Group has some disappointing news for fans of Open Educational Resources (OER). Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, while 60% of faculty believe the high cost of textbooks is a serious student concern, the percentage of faculty who say they will use OER […]

While the advent of online education served as a disruptive force to traditional education, what now is disrupting the disrupter? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, “at-scale” learning from highly reputable institutions at low tuition prices is having a seismic impact – with a handful of these institutions growing faster and faster as less affordable private […]

The adult student is becoming even more important. Reported by EAB, the number of students aged 25-34 is forecasted to increase by 21% by 2022. But are our institutions ready to effectively serve this adult learner? The takeaway? Growth in today’s higher education market means a focus on the adult online learner. And that means […]

How do we create leadership pathways for women in higher ed? Reported by Education Dive, Carolyn Stefanco, President of The College of Saint Rose offers suggestions after personally experiencing sexism and discrimination on her upward path. One is to make women’s history and barriers to equality a part of general education. She also recounts her […]

The Fed just streamlined the financial aid process. No, really. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Education Department has released guidance on new changes that give institutions more flexibility when verifying student’s financials. One significant change is that colleges are now able to accept signed tax returns, rather than tax transcripts, which can […]

What if our faculty were more transparent in asking our students how they would improve our courses? Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Chuck Tryon from Fayetteville State University was grateful for, and surprised by his student’s feedback when he asked them for it. Many suggestions included the students taking a more active role […]

Are English-only courses an online enrollment growth barrier? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, while English is the dominant language of instruction for the global higher ed marketplace, English is only spoken by 20% of the world, and English content only represents 30% of total internet content. So when DartmouthX included a Portuguese language option for […]

Harvard just put a major dent in the “online is an inferior modality” conversation. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, Harvard has officially changed the name of their online learning platform from HBX to Harvard Business School Online. While the X suffix has served as a popular higher ed branding solution for internal stakeholders nervous of […]

While undergraduate students highly value mentorship, only 25% actually have a mentor. Reported by EAB, the recent Strada-Gallup alumni survey shows the high student satisfaction value in mentorship, yet many students never develop this sort of relationship while on campus. The takeaway? How do we better connect our students with faculty and administrative mentors? Especially […]

The University of Rhode Island is building three new innovation campuses, dedicated to solving state needs. Reported by Education Dive, these three campuses are specifically designed to integrate academics with commercial products and businesses throughout the state, and catalyze new innovations, industries and growth. The takeaway? The State of Rhode Island recognizes what higher education […]

What will 5G technology mean for higher education? Reported by EdSurge, NYC Media Lab predicts the fifth generation of wireless technologies could take immersive education to the next level – including holographic professors, seamless VR experiences, and clear connectivity for international students. The takeaway? Who at our institutions do we have investigating these new technologies, […]

While many institutions launch new degree programs as an enrollment growth strategy, are new non-degree courses an under-looked opportunity for many departments? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, The University of Kentucky’s English department noticed their courses at capacity were the ones popular with nonmajors, while senior-level degree-specific courses were under-enrolled. So they added sections of […]

As more students move online, college maintenance spending is hitting an 11-year high. Reported by Education Dive, the higher ed building expansion arms race in the past decade has painted the industry in a difficult corner, all while we struggle with enrollment declines. The takeaway? How do we better plan our campus infrastructure for the […]

How is higher education responding to Amazon’s new HQ2 headquarters announcement? Reported by Education Dive, many institutions are quickly building out capacity in order to meet the educational needs of the 25,000 tech jobs Amazon estimates creating. Virginia Tech University announced plans to build out a 1-million square foot, 1-billion dollar Innovation Campus in Alexandria, […]

We must stop talking to every single student the exact same way. Reported by Campus Technology, a new Eduventures study highlights the importance of understanding an individual student’s mindset when communicating to them. This research helps show how students have very different categorical outlooks to academia, including career-focused, experientially-focused, and academically-focused. The takeaway? All of […]

Could micro-internships be an effective way to pay new grads for real-world job trials? Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Parker Dewey’s online marketplace connects students with short-term internship opportunities, often between 5 and 40 hours long, and compensated at between $20 and $25/hour. The takeaway? With employers becoming more and more cautious to […]

9 out of 10 admission officers consider transfer student recruitment a significant or moderate portion of reaching their overall enrollment growth goals. Reported by EAB, a new report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling shows an increase in transfer student efforts and strategies, including more transfer-specific admissions hires, a focus on community college […]

Montana employers are designing degree programs. Reported by EAB, Montana employers and state agencies are partnering with Montana universities – using workforce data to determine degree program demand, and launching new programs where they see gaps. The goal is to make sure that Montana state schools continue to focus on serving the needs of the […]

The University of South Florida has opened a Publix grocery store on campus, providing students with groceries along with new employment and research opportunities. Reported by EAB, the on-campus Publix initiative is intended to make both grocery shopping and affordable healthy food options easier for students – and 50 of the new store’s associates are […]

Higher ed’s focus on student retention may be working. Reported by Education Dive, student completion rates at 2- and 4-year colleges are at 58.3%, 1.5 percent higher than the prior year’s cohort. And while fewer than half of black and Hispanic students are still completing within six years, their respective completion rates did grow faster […]

For students who choose to enter the workforce before starting college, does it make more sense to flip our curriculum and provide students a practical vocation-related certificate prior to their general education courses? Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Brigham Young University Idaho’s certificate-first online pathway program is focused on improving employability throughout one’s […]

Should online education have a different sticker price than an institution’s on-campus offering? Reported by EdSurge, institutions like Berklee College of Music and the University of Pennsylvania are cutting their online tuition because of the scale offered by online degrees. But many fear that separate pricing for online education reinforces the premise that online education […]

Teaching a live synchronous class via video requires very different best practices than either traditional or online. Reported by EdSurge, Dr. Bonni Stachowiak of Vanguard University recommends best practices like recommending your students all turn their webcams and microphones on, and take advantage of the “live” format to incorporate student participation and group activities like […]

Two more Ivy League institutions are getting into the bootcamp game. Reported by Education Dive, Yale’s summer session will offer a 10-week web development bootcamp. And Harvard is launching a 24-week part-time full-stack certificate program this Spring. The takeaway? While some institutions see bootcamps as threats to traditional higher education, other institutions are embracing them, […]

Reported by Education Dive, The University of Michigan, in an attempt to better shape their class, targeted 1,932 high-achieving low-income Michigan students with a scholarship offer through a mail campaign that spoke to how successful they could be at U-M. Students who received the mailer were 67% more likely to apply than those who hadn’t, […]

Master’s degree programs have become more diverse than ever. Reported by Education Dive, the number of distinct master’s fields granting more than 100 degrees a year has doubled from 289 to 514 between 1995 and 2017. And as master’s degrees become the new bachelor’s for career growth purposes, many institutions are doubling down on these […]

Between 2025 and 2029, fertility rate declines in the United States will have created a drop of nearly 15% in the college-age population. Reported by EAB, this prediction from Nathan Grawe, an economist at Carleton College, means that with more and more institutions fighting for a smaller population of students, establishing your unique positioning prior […]

Only 30% of students found the advice they received from their career services department helpful according to the 2018 Strada-Gallup Alumni survey. Reported by EAB, this study also showed that students value career advice from their professors more than career services staff. The takeaway? How can Career Services become a more helpful and proactive service […]

Discover Financial Services is employing Northern Illinois University undergraduate students on-campus. Reported by Campus Technology, Discover has hired 36 students in Computer Science and Information Systems-related programs to work on mobile software and web applications on campus. Discover views this as a high-potential feeder group to find new star employees, and NIU appreciates the real-world […]

Amazon has made their Amazon Web Services internal training courses available for free. Reported by Education Dive, the more than 30 AWS courses designed to train Amazon engineers on machine learning are now available to the public. This is great new for students looking to add an AWS certification to their resume, and this is […]

For students looking to enroll in courses not currently available at their institution, they may now be able to take that single course online with another. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, the Council of Independent Colleges has launched the Online Course Sharing Consortium, where students from participating institutions can take individuals courses not being offered […]

At Trinity College of Connecticut, low-income students no longer need to apply for institutional aid every year, but are awarded a 4-year aid package based on their initial application. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, the goal of this policy is to provide more certainty for low-income students, as well as reduce paperwork needs to make […]

In deep knowledge fields, cursory reading and passive listening to a lecture is often not enough to experience deep knowledge breakthrough. Reported by EdSurge, The University of Memphis’ AutoTutor is an attempt to engage students with multiple tutor agents who will debate each other, in order to intentionally create cognitive disequilibrium for the student, all […]

Drexel University has created an online hub called Virtually Inspired, with more than 100 case studies on how institutions across the country are doing online education well. Reported by Campus Technology, in 2016 Drexel University saw a problem with a lack of best practice online instruction and innovation, and decided to create a resource hub […]

Turns out, higher Ed IT leaders don’t approve of their institution’s IT investments. Reported by Campus Technology, in a surprising finding from the Campus Computing Survey, only in one single area – student recruitment – do at least half of our IT leaders rate their institution’s IT investment as “very effective”. The takeaway? Few institutions […]

South Carolina is now offering its residents free coding courses through their SC Codes program. Reported by Campus Technology, these online courses provide South Carolina residents basic knowledge in front-end and back-end web development, and the site itself attempts to connect course completers with potential job opportunities. The takeaway? This is starting to look like […]

Why are college dropouts returning to North Carolina state schools in record numbers? Reported by The Atlantic, the new NC Promise program lowers tuition to $500 a semester for in-state students at select institutions, and at $2,500  a semester for out of state students. Funded by the state legislature, the tuition for low-income students can […]

What if you crowdsourced innovation ideas from your faculty and staff? Reported by EdSurge, Long Beach State University did just that, crowdsourcing 24,000 suggestions from their students, faculty and staff about the future of the university. Free tuition was a popular suggestion. But creative solutions also came out of this experiment regarding transportation, corporate partnerships, […]

Could MOOCs have so many drop-outs specifically because students don’t care about getting credit for them? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, a new report out of Columbia University attempted to better understand the motivations of nondegree MOOC students, and the results indicate that the vast majority of these students already have a degree (80% already […]

Reported by Inside Higher Ed, while higher education enrollment dropped by almost 90,000 students from fall 2016 to fall 2017, the number of students taking at least some of their courses online grew by more than 350,000. And now, about one in six students are enrolled exclusively online, up 15.4% year over year. The takeaway? […]

With many public institutions now following private institutions’ tactics – recruiting out-of-state students with tuition incentives, this is helping cause the neediest freshman at ½ of these public universities to be paying more than 1/3 of their families’ income to attend. Reported by Education Dive, this is largely the result of significant gaps in state […]

Wichita State University Tech, Kansas’ largest technical college, is partnering with the state to attract potential aviation workers with free relocation, free education, housing stipends, and guaranteed job placement. Reported by Education Dive, The Wichita Promise Move initiative is in the process of relocating 50 enrollees, 75% of whom come from outside Kansas, to receive […]

What if the smart classroom of the future doesn’t look all that different, but acts a whole lot different? Reported by Campus Technology, while much of smart room design prognostications focus on technological novelties, Indiana University’s smart classroom prototype – designed by their IT department after prioritizing the results from faculty focus groups – focuses […]

The first rule of higher ed data governance? It’s everyone’s data. Reported by Education Dive, panelists at the annual EDUCAUSE conference all reinforced the importance of establishing a strong data governance on campus, but focused on creating a culture where no single department “owns” data, but all help steward and inform the institution’s data. The […]

Reported by EdSurge, Marist College offers Online Teaching Workshops for their on-campus faculty to become more comfortable with the technology and pedagogical best practices of online instruction. From first assessing the faculty’s online skillsets, and then personalizing their training and development workshops to shrink their learning curve, Marist is committed to online faculty support. The […]

Adler College in Portland, Oregon is rethinking the 2-year degree. Reported by EdSurge, Adler College, still in the planning and fundraising stages, aims at re-thinking the first two years of a student’s collegiate career. Cohort-driven, and with an integrated curriculum designed to be taken in blocks of 4 courses, the primary goal of Adler College […]

Will Southern New Hampshire University’s new acquisition finally help tip digital badges in higher education? Reported by Education Dive, SNHU’s acquisition of Chicago-based LRNG, a leader in game-based learning and digital badges, is an attempt to utilize community-based digital learning as competency-based credit for their College for America program. The takeaway? While stackable degrees and […]

With the current political climate and #MeToo movement helping women’s colleges experience record entering classes, enrollment coaches are reporting that more and more students are asking questions about the political culture of our respective institutions. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, while many institutions have historically tried to remain neutral and inclusive for students of all […]

How will Amazon’s new headquarters effect east coast enrollment? Reported by EdSurge, with Amazon looking to hire 25,000 new employees at each of their new New York City and DC locations, how can our institutions effectively graduate students prepared to feed this employee pipeline? And for more than the obvious computer science need, but for […]

Who owns student outcomes at your institution? Reported by Education Dive, 900 responses to an Educause Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) report show that often, no single unit owns student outcomes – and therefore, that creates a huge risk that no one does. While Institutional Research, Student Affairs, and Information Technology all commonly assume […]

Is Facebook getting into the adult online education game? Reported by EdSurge, Facebook has launched 13 free digital up-skilling and career advice courses designed to serve as a bridge for workforce re-entry or re-fresh. At only nine minutes long each, these micro-content courses are part of a broader trend toward re-skilling outside of traditional degree […]

If humans have a hard time focusing on a single activity for more than 12 minutes, what chance do our students have of sitting through a 60-minute lecture? Reported by EdSurge, Dr. John Branch from the University of Michigan, rather than fighting that neurological reality, embraces it, breaking up the session into various activities, none […]

Will robots replace students, or will students become them? Reported by Campus Technology, students at The University of Colorado Boulder offer “remote presence” options for students who can’t attend a class live that week. These students, with the help of a strong wi-fi connection, can log in to an iPad housed on a robotic neck […]

Is higher ed still refusing to take online education seriously? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, fewer than half of faculty who have taught online have worked with an instructional designer. And with 87% of these same faculty involved in designing their online courses, potential quality issues should concern us. The takeaway? Teaching online is an […]

Reported by Education Dive, President Nellis from Ohio University believes we shortchange higher education when citing the mere million dollars extra a college graduate can expect to make over the course of their career compared to a high school graduate. That the college experience, and the deep-end dive a student plunges themselves into new beliefs, […]

Would more people take professional development courses if they earned something for them beyond the knowledge itself? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, while certificates of completion from individual courses offer a nice sense of completion, if these courses were steps toward a larger or more recognized certification degree, would enrollment numbers increase? The takeaway? While […]

What should a university library look like in 2018? Reported by Education Dive, many universities like UC-Berkeley are minimizing their physical collections altogether, while creating brand new collaboration spaces and labs for emerging technology. The takeaway? While the research role of the librarian itself may be more complex than ever, how do we make sure […]

On a cost-cutting mission, Drew University has put all academic expenses off limits. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, instead, Drew University has cut day care expenses, retiree health benefits, and public safety staff redundancies compared to peer institutions. The goal is to prioritize student-facing spending, and even launch various new academic programs to prioritize growth […]

More and more universities are offering students their diplomas in the blockchain. Reported by Education Dive, rather than these transcripts being recognized and verified only by the registrar at these respective institutions, blockchain credentials allow students to have lifelong access to their credentials. The takeaway? As re-skilling and continual education certificates continue to grow in […]

NACAC’s annual “State of College Admissions” report helps dispel the myth that college is inaccessible. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, the average 4-year college admits nearly 2/3 of their freshman applicants. This figure doesn’t even include community colleges, which are open admit. The takeaway? College is by no means “easy”, but is more attainable than […]

What can our institutions learn from other states’ adult promise programs? Reported by Education Dive, The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) has been exploring the efficacy of Adult Promise Programs, programs designed to improve completion rates for adult students. These include last-dollar promises (subsidizing those tuition costs financial aid does not cover), and […]

While international student enrollment continues to decline in America, study abroad participants are growing year over year. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, a full 16% of those students earning bachelor’s degrees will study abroad at some point in their undergraduate career, with the number of American students studying abroad growing 2.3% in the past year. […]

Will artificial intelligence replace teaching or make faculty even more human? Reported by EdSurge, Penn State University educators helped paint a picture at the EDUCAUSE national conference of how artificial intelligence and machine learning will help complement and support the work of faculty in the classroom. These include faculty using AI recommendation engines to discover […]

More than 75% of online students still choose to enroll at an institution within 100 miles of their home. Reported by EdSurge, despite how widely available online degrees now are, students are still choosing familiar brands close to their backyard. The takeaway? Just because your online students “can” come from anywhere, doesn’t mean they “will” […]

Reported by Inside Higher Ed, most computer science majors aren’t looking to code their entire lives. That’s why institutions like MIT are pushing their faculty members to become “bilinguals”, interdisciplinary specialists who have their feet in both computation and another discipline, better matching the real-world applications of computer science. The takeaway? With more and more […]

Reported by EdSurge, when faculty hear about a new technological innovation sweeping  higher ed, many are concerned of it furthering the commoditization of higher education. That the more our accrediting bodies force identical learning outcomes, and the more we play in the same technologies and systems, the less creative our faculty are able to be. […]

A new study by Stanford University claims college rankings don’t help students pick their right-fit institution. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, this Stanford analysis claims that student success is much more correlated with how engaged a student is at an institution, and therefore, one should select an institution that they know they will work hard […]

Some STEM graduates have seen their salaries decline by as much as 50% in the past 10 years. Reported by EAB, a recent paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research hypothesizes that this proves specific skills, not specific workers or degree graduates are actually in demand. The takeaway? How do we move to a […]

MIT is entering the AI Game. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is spending $1 billion on a new college devoted to the study of artificial intelligence – both the technologies AI will help create, and the ethical challenges those creations will entail. The takeaway? As AI continues to […]

Is morality a better market skill than coding? Reported by EAB, panelists at the recent Qatar Foundation conference argued that philosophy, ethics and morality will be the skillsets of the most successful global workers, not coding or programming. Similar arguments from writers like Seth Godin have suggested that since Americans will never win the low-cost […]

Reported by EAB, The University of California at Berkeley’s FirstGen program offers an annual career conference where their first-generation students can network specifically with first-generation alumni and employers, and receive both academic and career advice from graduates who have taken a similar path to themselves. The takeaway? For how much these mentor relationships increase our […]

To help students learn, make them teach? Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Stan Eisen, a biology professor at Christian Brothers University provided his students with a choice – to take a final exam or write a children’s book. Convinced of the benefits of experiential learning, Eisen believes that the ability to explain a […]

A non-lecture format test at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona raised the pass rate of an upper-division engineering course from 66% to 89%. Reported by EAB, Professor Paul Nissenson enlisted the help of two professors from the institution’s psychology and sociology departments to try and increase student achievement for this required course that was causing […]

Can artificial intelligence help students find their fastest path to graduation? Reported by Campus Technology, a  team of engineering students at Penn State University won a university competition and $30,000 to help finish developing their LionPlanner app, which uses machine learning to align a student’s career interests with their shortest path to degree completion, and […]

While many institutions struggle to find existing faculty excited to teach online, Unity College has created a separate distance education staff composed of instructors and technicians specifically excited about online education. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, this approach is helping Unity project 2,000 online credit hours this upcoming year, 400 more than their goal number. […]

More institutions are outsourcing their gen ends to…Google. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, students at eight institutions this semester can enroll in introductory computer science and data science courses, developed by Google. Students are excited to learn Google-specific curriculum. And employers (at least Google) will likely be excited to employ students who have taken this […]

While many institutions have academic success and bridge programs for students who enter their institution at the low end of their admission requirements, Florida Atlantic University has just created a new support office, dedicated to first-generation students. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, about ¼ of the university’s students are first-generation, and the goal […]

While many students have difficulty picturing exactly what their life will look like post-degree, it is of critical importance students understand their post-degree pathway as motivation to keep them moving through their degree program. Reported by EAB, Wesleyan University has created a Career Development MOOC in partnership with Coursera. Career Decisions: From insight to impact […]

Beginning in 2015, Idaho high school students with a 3.0 GPA or better after their junior year were told they had been accepted into all eight of the state’s public colleges. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, three years letter, the initiative’s success is dependent on who you ask. First-time resident freshman enrolling directly after high […]

In a world where jobs and job skills are changing so rapidly, can a 4-year degree adequately prepare a student for the rest of their professional careers? Reported by Evolllution, Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education is leading an effort entitled, “The Sixty Year Curriculum”, studying the new educational models required to help individuals continually reskill […]

Uber drivers who drive during the day can get their degree online at night for free at Arizona State University. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Uber drivers in 8 major cities who have recorded at least 3,000 miles of drive time will be able to earn their bachelor’s degree or certificate online and […]

What if cities saw universities as their biggest brain trust to solve their most pressing problems? Reported by Education Dive, Portland State University is attempting to become that, creating research centers for homelessness and smart city technology. PSU President Rahmat Shoureshi hopes to establish seven self-supporting centers on-campus in downtown Portland. The takeaway? How do […]

While many colleges are targeting adult learners to hit their enrollment numbers, studies show those adult learners with preschool-aged children are finding it very hard to finish their degree. Reported by Education Dive, this issue of “time poverty” is much more likely to affect the academic performance of college students with young children. The takeaway? […]

While an MBA is far and away the most popular graduate degree for both men and women, even elite colleges are starting to feel the pain of diminishing interest. Reported by Education Dive, Harvard Business School saw 4.5% fewer MBA applications in 2018, while Stanford University saw a 4.6% drop, and The University of Pennsylvania’s […]

Do free college programs actually hurt the lowest income students? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, studies examining tuition-free college programs in New York and Tennessee demonstrate that even “free college” programs don’t account for all the costs of attendance. “Last-dollar” programs, meaning those programs that only cover remaining tuition after federal and state aid have […]

Do your development team demographics match your future donors? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, many colleges are rethinking how they staff their development offices to meet the fundraising needs of an increasingly diverse alumni and donor base. With only 11% of front-line fund raisers being persons of colors, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, […]

What happens when a big donor disagrees with a university decision? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, Joshua Hunt’s latest book, University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education looks at Nike’s founder Phil Knight and his precarious relationship with The University of Oregon, as their top donor. The book details how Knight’s generous […]

For many institutions with big data dreams, their bubbles often burst when they are told how unusable their data currently is. Because in order to play with the latest and greatest analytic tools and technologies, institutions must first normalize their data, eliminate data redundancy, improve data integrity and organize their data into a base these […]

When designing curriculum for the future, think backwards? Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, James Lang from Assumption College believes there is a single question to ask faculty to make them more conscious of their curriculum design. And it is: “Twenty years from now, what do you hope students will remember from your course?” […]

Did you know that transferring to a new institution can lose students half the credits they’ve already earned? Reported by EAB, a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) showed that between 2004-2009, students who transferred institutions lost 43% on average of the credits they had earned at prior institutions. Many states are looking to […]

Reported by Education Dive, the University of Virginia will waive tuition for in-state students whose families earn less than $80,000 a year, and in addition, offer free room and board for those students whose families earn less than $30,000 annually. In the absence of a federal “free college” program, more states are taking individual measures […]

Reported by Education Dive, students can now earn an associate degree in automotive technology from… Subaru. In partnership with Mt. Hood Community College in Oregon, upon graduation students will be connected with Subaru dealerships in the state for additional hands-on training and a job offer. The takeaway? Employers are looking for qualified workers, and many […]

Reported by EducationDive, a 2017 National Student Clearinghouse Research Center report showed that white students in Illinois have a 6-year graduation rate of 66%, compared to 36% of black students, and 48% of Latino students. In response, 25 public and private institutions in Illinois launched the Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative designed to eliminate racial […]

How can we make faculty office hours work for the online learner? Reported by EdSurge, The University of Washington’s Dr. Stefan Stoll offers online office hours so popular that up to 2/3 of his students attend them prior to exams. These sessions can be recorded for posterity for those students unable to make them, and […]

Can behavioral economics improve the study habits of online learners? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, a study distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows many research attempts to “nudge” students into behavioral modification aren’t creating meaningful academic improvements. These interventions have included personalized faculty communications, incentivizing additional study time and group work, and […]

Reported by EAB, the U.S. Department of Education plans to add median salary and debt information at the program level to the existing College Scorecard. This will allow students to better compare college and program options based on real financial outcomes. The takeaway? How do we make sure we’re preparing and coaching students toward a […]

Six more institutions are partnering with edX to offer affordable online master’s degrees. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, edX is launching nine new degree programs with institutions including Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of California San Diego, and Arizona State University. Two of these degrees price in at $10,000k or […]

Reported by EAB, Carleton College economist Nathan Grawe predicts that the traditional college-age population in the U.S. will drop by 15% between 2025 and 2029. Specifically, this trend correlates to the reduction of children born in the 4-year period following the Great Recession in 2008, due to financial uncertainty. The takeaway? The pursuit of non-traditional […]

The University of Pittsburgh is launching a pay-it-forward debt reduction program for new graduates. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, students from the state of Pennsylvania graduate with an average debt of more than $36k, $8k more than the national average. This pay-it-forward program at the University of Pittsburgh will offer qualified students up to $5,000 […]

Will a new smartphone app help students get more federal aid? Reported by EAB, the U.S. Department of Education recently launched the app, myStudentAid, to help make FAFSA completion easier than ever. Because the research sadly shows that students most likely to benefit from the FAFSA are also the least likely to complete it. The […]

Can a U.S. college still be classified as such if they’re owned by China? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, Chinese companies are actively attempting to buy U.S. colleges and universities, including most recently, Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Concerns from faculty, donors and others include that Chinese corporations owned and controlled by the […]

Rhode Island has started paying students to apply to college. Reported by EAB, the Rhode2College program is designed to provide low-income students with incentives for completing college discovery tasks – the majority of the $2,000 maximum incentive being granted after starting college. These tasks include creating a college short-list, completing federal aid forms, and submitting […]

One of the best things about predictive data modeling is that an institution can find at-risk students that may not yet have surfaced from standard red-flags like prior academic performance – and be able to provide them with additional support. The problem is that there are thousands of student success factors even the best predictive […]

Stuck on campus for Thanksgiving? If you’re a first-generation student at Florida State University, that’s no problem. Reported by EAB, FSU’s Center for Academic Retention and Engagement cook and eat with FSU students stuck on-campus for the holidays due to monetary or family issues. The takeaway? To make sure the students you worked so hard […]

Students eligible for state aid aren’t getting it. A recent study by the Education Commission of the States reports that more than 1 million students are eligible for state financial aid, but aren’t being funded due to oversubscription of the states’ programs. The takeaway? With too many students eligible for a limited amount of state […]

UC-Irvine is forgoing the lecture hall in exchange for a new campus building entirely devoted to active learning. Reported by EAB, this 65,000 square foot structure includes 15 smart classrooms and auditoriums, with screens on every wall and flexible furniture designed to better accommodate group learning. UC-Irvine is also requiring their faculty complete an eight-week […]

How can our degree programs prepare students for jobs that don’t yet exist? Reported by Education Dive, an estimated 50% of the technical knowledge acquired in the first-year of a four year degree will be outdated by graduation. The takeaway? How do we better align with HR leaders to understand the evolving technical requirements their […]

Reported by Inside Higher Ed, Northwestern University has recently hired three learning engineers. Distinct from instructional designers, these learning engineers conduct analytical research and drive technological change at the program level, while Northwestern’s instructional designers are often focused on building individual courses. The takeaway? While “instructional designer” has served as a helpful catch-all word to […]

4 million adults with some college and no degree have earned enough credit for an associate degree, but don’t have any credential to show for it Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Institute for Higher Education Policy has announced a campaign to help hundreds of colleges develop “degree reclamation” expertise. Their goal is […]

How do we design course schedules that maximize student persistence? Reported by EdSurge, a study from 200 colleges found that 45% of courses are filled to under 70% capacity, with institutions that have greater course inefficiency experiencing lower graduation rates as well. When crowded course schedules and limited availability mean students need to take a […]

Knowledge is progressively becoming free. But education isn’t. When I entered higher education nearly 10 years ago, I did so because I believed we were at the precipice of the democratization of higher education. That self-paced AI-assisted high-quality education was a pin-drop away from truly revolutionizing higher education. And my biggest wakeup call over this […]

Does job earnings data influence a student’s choice of major? Reported by Campus Technology, a recent study by Rutgers University proves the answer to surprisingly be ‘no’. While this study shows that students do have optimistic expectations for their post-degree wage earnings – believing they’d earn more than they actual will – this newfound knowledge […]

Good guys actually finish first, or at least their children can now get ½ off their tuition. Reported by Inside Higher Ed, Capital University has launched their “Good Guarantee”, offering ½-price tuition for undergraduates whose families have chosen “mission-centric” careers in nonprofit and public-service work. The takeaway? There are many different strategies for promoting your […]

How can we make sure online students feel connected to and known by their online professors? Reported by EdSurge, research out of UC Irvine’s School of Education found that students who struggle academically with online coursework claimed they felt both lonely and isolated by the online learning process. The takeaway? There are a whole bunch […]

Could apprenticeships be a strong alternative for RNs to obtain their BSN? According to a new report by New America, hospitals with more BSN’s do generate better patient outcomes, but asking RN’s to get their degree while working full-time is admittedly difficult. That’s what’s so appealing about the promise of nursing apprenticeship programs. These apprenticeships […]

For those who say higher ed is slow to innovate, we sure are making some serious progress in higher ed, folks. We’re utilizing new technologies, and we’re seriously questioning them. We’re experimenting with micro-grants for our financially struggling students to keep them persisting to graduation. We’re exploring the affordability of open educational resources, and the […]

Do tuition resets actually reset an institution’s enrollment growth trajectory? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, The University of the Cumberlands will cut their on-campus undergraduate tuition by 57% next year, from a $23,000 sticker price down to $9,875. Like many tuition resets, this one mostly impacts the university’s discount rate, with students actually saving $1,298 […]

Student demographics in the U.S. are changing rapidly – but faculty demographics haven’t. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, in 2016, more than 43% of college students  were members of racial and ethnic minority groups, up 6 points from 2010. Yet, higher ed faculty are still nearly 78% white. The takeaway? Do we need […]

Will higher education as an employment benefit transform higher ed? With more and more global companies like Disney, Walmart and Amazon offering relatively free college for their employees (for specific programs and through specific institutions), will this employer-sponsored model change how adults seek to degree complete? The takeaway? As national employers begin to take education […]

If you’re listening to this briefing on an Amazon Alexa-compatible device, you’re in good company. Reported by Education Dive, Saint Louis University is putting an Amazon Echo Dot in every student dorm room and apartment, pre-loaded with an Alexa Skill that allows a student to ask Alexa more than 100 questions about college services, including […]

How do we help build in-class connections between students – starting from the first day of class? Reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education, faculty should consider replacing a standard student introduction on the first day of class with three icebreakers suggested by the publication, That Wasn’t on the Syllabus. These could include “speed friending”, […]

65% of students decided not to buy a textbook because it was too expensive, even though they expected it to diminish their grade. Reported by Education Dive, while textbook costs continue to create a financial burden for higher ed students, Ohio University’s campaign for their faculty’s adoption of Open Educational Resources is expected to save […]

Could small grants be a smart economic solution to replace the earnings from part-time jobs and ensure our first-generation students persist? Reported by EAB, Temple University’s “Fly in 4” initiative is designed specifically to reduce students’ reliance on part-time employment earnings. At Temple, students working more than 15 hours a week at off-campus jobs had […]

What does the future higher ed campus look like? Reported by Education Dive, The University of Maryland is redesigning its physical spaces away from the traditional lecture style classroom, in favor of rooms “in the round” that promote more student collaboration. Psychologically, these classroom layouts set up the expectation that the student will be an […]

Is it time for higher ed to take transfer students more seriously? Reported by The New York Times, higher ed is taking in more transfer students than ever before, with a full 62% of the University of Central Florida’s last incoming class made up by transfer students. With demographic shifts causing higher ed to look […]

When people start to question the high costs of college, many point to on-campus amenities as the scapegoat, and make jokes about climbing walls and lazy rivers being the reason for high-cost tuition. But reported by EAB, the main driver of colleges costs is simply teaching students, making up between 1/3 and ½ of total […]

One way to make college more affordable is simply to ensure your students graduate on time. Reported by EAB, at Penn State University, their first-generation need-based students work 22 hours a week on average. These work requirements make it difficult to maintain a full course load, participate in additional extra-curricular academic experiences, and finish on […]

Extrinsic factors like grades can absolutely help motivate a student. But the research shows that a student’s intrinsic motivations can be much more persuasive. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, David Gooblar from the University of Iowa cites the book, How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching for how we can better […]

Reported by EAB, a new poll by Elon University shows that graduates who had between seven and 10 positive faculty or staff relationships during their college tenure were 3x more likely to rate their college experience as “very rewarding”. Even students with just one or two of these positive relationships were twice as likely to […]

While women beat out men when it comes to higher ed enrollment, women also hold a disproportionate two-thirds of the nation’s student-loan debt. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, women are also more likely than men to attend a for-profit college because of the online flexibility offered, and end up making less than their […]

How can college and university presidents better engage with students? Reported by EAB, Texas State University president Dr. Denise Trauth, has an online calendar open for students or student groups to schedule 15-minute meetings with her to discuss any concern they might have. While some digitally savvy higher ed leaders have taken to social media […]

Would an accounting bootcamp teach students how to use Quickbooks? Reported by EdSurge, accounting courses at the University of Texas at Dallas teach students classroom theory, and then practice applying that theory using real-life work scenarios via the popular accounting software, Quickbooks. Rather than graduating students who understand advanced theory but don’t know how to […]

Email marketing is likely a high-value channel for your internal marketing teams. But are personal emails underutilized by faculty in the classroom setting? Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, especially in large classes, students can feel lost in the crowd when they’re struggling. But many learning management systems make it easy for faculty to […]

Only about 60% of hiring managers believe college graduates are prepared to succeed in entry-level positions, and only ¼ of these hiring managers believe graduates have the skill-set to advance or be promoted. Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, this new survey of employers by the Association of American Colleges & Universities may be […]

Do dual enrollment programs improve a student’s likelihood to graduate? Reported by Inside Higher Ed, 61% of students who enter the University of Texas System are now bringing college credit with them, through dual-enrollment credit and/or Advanced Placement credit. These students who enroll at UT with existing credit have a higher retention rate, and are […]

The first 5 minutes of a university class is very much like the first sentence of a novel. If you can’t grab and hold their attention with your opening, you are likely to lose them. The Chronicle of Higher Education suggests some ways to start your first 5-minutes of every class, including: Opening with a […]

No one institution needs to create emerging learning technology alone. Reported by EducationDive, The CoAction Learning Lab, led by Penn State University is a group of 19 public and private colleges dedicated to sharing open license learning resources and pooling knowledge so all member institutions can get better faster. The takeaway? Our institutions don’t have […]