Colleges relax transfer credit policies to boost enrollment
THE HECHINGER — When Covid-19 threw higher education into chaos, Lebanon Valley College quietly took a small step with big implications. The private college near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, promised that the general education courses taken by any student transferring from another accredited institution would count toward a degree.
Read More about Colleges relax transfer credit policies to boost enrollmentStudents push universities to cancel classes on election day
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Work or class obligations are among the top barriers to voting faced by students or young people in general, said Campbell Streator, the executive director of EVC National. Student government leaders and national get-out-the-vote organizations want a designated holiday instead and classes replaced with voter engagement efforts.
Read More about Students push universities to cancel classes on election dayDepartment of Education issues report on disclosure of foreign gifts
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Department of Education issues report accusing colleges of “pervasive noncompliance” with federal law requiring reporting of foreign-sourced gifts and contracts. They accused colleges of failing to comply with a law requiring biannual disclosure of all foreign gifts and contracts totaling $250,000 or more.
Read More about Department of Education issues report on disclosure of foreign giftsSeveral colleges join business groups in challenging new H-1B visa eligibility restrictions
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Colleges joined with major business and industry groups in filing a lawsuit challenging new administration rules that would narrow the eligibility requirements for H-1B skilled worker visas and increase the wages employers would have to pay visa holders.
Read More about Several colleges join business groups in challenging new H-1B visa eligibility restrictionsUS government launches investigation into international student work program
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Officials announced that they had arrested 15 international students who claimed to be employed by companies that don’t exist. The arrests resulted from an ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation, termed Operation OPTical Illusion, targeting fraudulent use of the optional practical training program.
Read More about US government launches investigation into international student work programUS Department of Education releases data on first-year graduate earnings by degree program
INSIDE HIGHER ED — College graduates with an associate’s degree in nursing from Santa Rosa Junior College in California make more money than graduates from some programs at Harvard University, a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce shows.
Read More about US Department of Education releases data on first-year graduate earnings by degree programCollege promise programs see drop in funding due to state budget cuts
INSIDE HIGHER ED — College promise programs have increased in popularity in recent years. Now, amid a pandemic and a recession, they might be on the chopping block. Some states are making, or at least predicting, budget cuts in the billions, some of which will have to come from higher education systems.
Read More about College promise programs see drop in funding due to state budget cutsUS Justice Department sues Yale University over admission policies
POLITICO — The Justice Department claims that Yale’s admissions process has for decades run afoul of federal civil rights laws that outlaw discrimination on the basis of race. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Connecticut, says Yale’s admissions process favors Black and Hispanic applicants at the expense of their Asian and white counterparts.
Read More about US Justice Department sues Yale University over admission policiesStudy: Black borrowers twice as likely to never be able to pay off student loan debt
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Black student loan borrowers are twice as likely as white borrowers to be projected to never be able to pay off their student loan debt, a result of systemic inequities in society, finds a study by the JPMorgan Chase Institute. About 13 percent of Black borrowers are projected to never be able to pay off debt.
Read More about Study: Black borrowers twice as likely to never be able to pay off student loan debtColleges react to Executive Order banning federal funding for diversity training
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION — The order has colleges nationwide scrambling to respond, or in some cases wondering how. Some have abruptly postponed planned events, while others wait for clarity on what the order means for them. A few have fought back, and others have decided to lie low.
Read More about Colleges react to Executive Order banning federal funding for diversity training