U.S. Department of Education Under Secretary Martha Kanter and other senior officials will discuss the Obama administration’s college affordability and higher education policy reform proposals at a "town meeting" scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, at 4 p.m. at Northeastern University's Cabral Student Center.The meeting will offer an opportunity for students, families, advocates, financial a...
At a hearing of the House Education and Workforce Committee on Wednesday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended the administration's budget proposal for FY2013. Committee Chair John Kline (R-MN) repeated the charges from a March 20 House Appropriations hearing: that the administration's decision to pour billions in new spending into competitive grant programs while maintaining current fund...
State and local spending on higher education fell to an average of $6,290 per full-time student in 2011—its lowest level in 25 years, according to a study released by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). Total funding for higher education from state and local sources fell by $1.3 billion between FY2008 at the beginning of the recession and FY2011. During tha...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced March 5 that it will now accept complaints from borrowers about problems with their private student loans. These problems could include difficulty with taking out a loan, repaying an existing loan or handling a loan which has gone into default. Under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, the CFPB has the authority to oversee private, non-ban...
One-third of all students who began their postsecondary education in 2006 transferred (before earning a degree or certificate) to a different institution within a five-year period, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.The report reveals that the majority of transfers occurred in students' second year, regardless of the direction of transfer (vertical, ...
A new $5 billion Education Department program aims to improve teacher training and career paths. The Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching (RESPECT) project encourages states and districts to work with teachers and education colleges to reform teacher training, compensation and professional development. Education Secretary Arne Duncan introduced the pr...
On Thursday, the White House granted the waiver requests of 10 states, including Massachusetts, to opt out from the requirements of the "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law. As passed, NCLB requires school districts to demonstrate through testing proficiency in reading and math skills for all grades by 2014. Many have called the NCLB law too unrealistic to implement, and a number of states have indic...
The term "Access" has acquired a bit of a Rodney Dangerfield complex since back in the day when I suggested: "If one word captures the range of compelling issues that the New England Board of Higher Education should focus its energy on at the start of the new century, the word is access."
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) wants you to know that access still deserves respect,...
Members on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) took advantage of a hearing Thursday on containing the cost of higher education to voice their thoughts on President Obama's plan to reward colleges who keep costs down with increased federal support. Several Republican members were concerned that the administration was effectively "picking winners and losers" by dete...
New England's public and private two- and four years colleges continue to charge higher prices than the U.S. average, according to new data posted to the Financing Higher Education section of NEBHE's Trends & Indicators. To view the latest updates to our Higher Education Financing section, visit Trends & Indicators: Continually Updated Stats on New England’s Education and Economy...