Posts Categorized: Admissions

Prospective College Students: Hiding in Plain Sight

As an unprecedented number of colleges and universities close their doors forever while others struggle to survive, a deep pool of prospective students—and the key to accessing them—is hiding in plain sight. Students from rural America attend college at lower rates (59%) than their urban (62%) and suburban (67%) counterparts and comprise only 29% of all students ages 18-24 enrolled in highe...

Certificates of Failure Given By Colleges: Yes, Really

The news is filled with stories about the admissions scandals at elite colleges and universities. And recently, some of the wrongdoers have pled guilty and await punishment. Apparently, prosecutors are seeking jail time. Apart from jail time, I have already suggested approaches to punishment that involve fines that go into a cy pres fund to be redistributed to small non-elite colleges and their st...

College Completion and the Future of Work: Implications in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

College completion matters, especially from the perspective of equity. Who finishes, how long it takes them, how much they benefit economically and how their citizenship benefits local communities all matter. This is especially true of knowledge-driven, innovation economies in New England. For Massachusetts—a state that ranks third highest in the nation for cost of living—a local educated w...

New England Leaders Call for the Accelerated Reinvention of the Region’s Higher Education Sector

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) calls for the accelerated reinvention of the region's higher education sector to address the pressing challenges and opportunities facing the six-state region. NEBHE has identified four priority areas for collaborative action over the coming years: enhancing opportunities for adult learners, expanding cost-savings opportunities for students and ...

Grant-Funded Initiative for Independent College Transfer Underway at NEBHE

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) received a seven month planning grant from The Teagle Foundation to formulate plans for a new transfer initiative between community colleges and independent colleges. The grant project is the first phase of building the foundation for a systematic transfer pathway from community colleges to four-year independent colleges in Connecticut, Massachuset...

Guides to Ascending the On-Ramp in Higher Education: Connecting Dots

A review of The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux, by Cathy N. Davidson (New York, Basic Books, 2017); a summary of the recent announcements of a major restructuring of MIT, and a synthesis of other relevant developments. It is increasingly obvious that we are living in one of the greatest ages of paradigm-shifts in Western history, compa...

Besides Enriching New England Life, International Students Help Bolster College Enrollments and Local Economies

New England faces a concerning dip in its higher education enrollment, due in significant part to declines in the region’s birth and high school graduation rates that are both projected to continue through 2029. Despite these trends, New England’s postsecondary institutions continue to attract a large number of international students to the region, according to the 2018 Open Doors report relea...

Educational Attainment, Foundational Skills and Worker Earnings

The earnings advantages to adults with more schooling are well-documented. High school graduates typically have higher earnings than high school dropouts, and those with a bachelor’s degree have higher earnings than both groups. Furthermore, as the job content of the nation’s economy has shifted in a way that generally favors those with more schooling, these earnings gaps between those with mo...

A Trade War We Are Winning: Opportunism and its Consequences in International Enrollments

America’s university population peaked in 2010 at about 21 million students. We would be mired in a nationwide enrollment crisis if not for two major decade-long trends that cushioned a fall: students enrolling exclusively online and those relocating here from abroad to study. These, combined, now comprise almost a quarter of the nation’s students. Because these two mitigating factors do not b...

Federal Support Announced to Improve Higher Education Outcomes with “Pay for Success” Initiatives

Community colleges offer an important pathway to the middle class. However, many students fall off the path along the way; almost half of students drop out and only 38% complete a degree within eight years, according to an analysis by Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute. These statistics are even worse for at-risk, minority and first-time students. Effective student support service...