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 […]