Posts Categorized: College Readiness

Beyond Sensational Anecdotes, Public Needs to Understand Student Debt and Forgiveness Proposals

The issue of student debt is now at the forefront of public discourse and political debate. There is no question that debt, not just student debt, impacts our economy and hinders the economic wellbeing of many Americans. At the same time, the factors that lead to that debt should not be ignored. Not all student debt is the same, and not all individuals burdened by debt are impacted in the same way...

Amid Attacks on Critical Race Theory, UMass Boston Launches Educational Leadership and Transformation Institute for Racial Justice

Since the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Tony McDade in 2020, among countless others, UMass Boston leadership has publicly committed to becoming an antiracist and health-promoting university. The university’s stated institutional values and commitments are also intricately tied to an academic freedom that wholly defends the right to teach about race, gender and other ...

Closing the Covid-Induced College and Career Readiness Divide

One day this past winter, as Covid restrictions began to fade, professionals from our educational nonprofit CFES Brilliant Pathways met in person with students and educators in Hawaii, North Carolina, New York and Massachusetts. It was the first time in nearly two years that many of our schools had allowed visitors to enter their buildings. That same morning, two members of our team led a virtual ...

How College Students Are Improving Wikipedia

You probably use Wikipedia regularly, maybe even every day. It’s where the world goes to learn more about almost anything, do a quick fact-check or get lost in an endless stream of link clicking. But have you ever stopped to think about the people behind the information you’re reading on Wikipedia? Or how their perspectives may inform what’s covered—and what’s not? All content to ...

Why “Don’t Say Gay” Bills Hurt More than Children

A bill in Florida that would prohibit discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through 3rd grade public school classrooms is quickly making its way toward the desk of  Gov. Ron DeSantis. If we are honest, we should admit that this bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents, is less about protecting students than it is about cynically fueling America...

If SCOTUS Bans Affirmative Action, How Will We Achieve Diversity?

Colleges need to prepare diversity strategies now for the day when the Supreme Court outlaws race-conscious admissions ... When President Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Supreme Court, it seemed like a major civil rights victory. But that victory could feel like a bitter irony this fall, when the high court hears two cases that will likely obliterate affirmative action....

Pandemic-Caused Shift to Remote Learning Has Led to Novel Civil Rights Issues

When the pandemic shut down the country in March 2020, many college and university administrators predicted that civil rights complaints would plummet. With students learning from home and out of physical and social contact with one another, it seemed unlikely that there would be many claims of discrimination or sexual harassment under Title IX and other civil rights laws. But as it happens, the p...

Recommencing!

Long before Covid changed everything, NEJHE and NEBHE's Twitter channel kept a close eye on New England college commencements. "The annual spring descent on New England campuses of distinguished speakers, ranging from Nobel laureates to Pulitzer winners to grassroots miracle-workers, offers a precious reminder of what makes New England higher education higher," we bragged. "It is a lecture series ...

The Ghost of Affirmative Action Past: Courage in the Bully Pulpit at Dartmouth

The Supreme Court is taking up affirmative action at colleges and universities for the sixth time in 50 years. In that litany, an early case was the University of California vs. Bakke. Bakke complained about being denied admission to the university’s medical school because seats were guaranteed for minority applicants, thus barring the door to him and other white applicants. When the Bakke ca...

Can Academics Help Build a Partnership Between Humans and AI? (Books)

Book Review The Age of AI and our Human Future, by Henry A. Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Daniel Huttenlocher, with Schuyler Schouten, New York, Little, Brown and Co., 2021. Reviewed by George McCully Artificial intelligence (AI) is engaged in overtaking and surpassing our long-traditional world of natural and human intelligence. In higher education, AI apps and their uses are multiply...