University System News:
www.myajc.com
State unveils film academy at Pinewood Studios
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/state-unveils-film-academy-at-pinewood-studios/nrCK9/
By Jennifer Brett and J. Scott Trubey – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s picturesque locales — and a bevy of state tax credits — have helped make the state one of the top places outside Hollywood to shoot movies and TV shows. But the knock on the Peach State is it lacks the behind-the-scenes workers to support all those projects. On Tuesday, state and business leaders made one potential fix by officially opening the Georgia Film Academy and a new teaching soundstage on site. The school, at the bustling Pinewood Studios campus in Fayette County, will train students how to work in the booming movie business. The school was a high priority of Gov. Nathan Deal in the 2015 legislative session, and is one of the commitments Deal has made to keep Georgia the top destination outside California and New York for Hollywood. The state’s film office said 248 productions shot in Georgia last fiscal year, totaling $1.7 billion in direct spending, up from $1.4 billion the prior 12-month period. Like many corporate ribbon cuttings, Tuesday’s event featured hopeful speeches by dignitaries — in this case Georgia Film Academy executive director Jeff Stepakoff; University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby; Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Gretchen Corbin; and Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy, an investor with the group that owns a majority of Pinewood.

GEORGIA FILM ACADEMY’S FIRST SOUNDSTAGE OPENS IN FAYETTEVILLE
http://fayette-news.com/georgia-film-academys-first-soundstage-opens-in-fayetteville/
DANNY HARRISON
Georgia Film Academy’s full-featured soundstage on the Pinewood Production Center property in Fayetteville officially opened Tuesday morning, receiving applause from local film industry executives who say as many as 5,000 additional film industry jobs will become necessary within the next five years to keep up with forecasted production demand. Located directly across Sandy Creek Road from the Pinewood Atlanta Studio campus, the 15,860 square-foot studio was built to the exact same standards as two of Pinewood’s main campus studios, which GFA leaders say will give their students a significant advantage when looking for jobs in the film industry. About 200 students are already enrolled in the two-course academy, which begins with a six-hour-credit, classroom-based course and is followed up by a studio-based, 12-credit-hour course. Upon completion of the two courses, a basic certificate is offered, or the credit hours can be applied to an associates or bachelor’s degree within the University System of Georgia or the Technical College System of Georgia. Currently, students take the courses on the campuses of Clayton State University, Columbus State University, Gwinnett Technical College, and at the Pinewood Atlanta Studios Production Center in Fayetteville.

See also:
www.atlantamagazine.com
How the Georgia Film Academy plans to keep Hollywood in the South
A new jobs program is the latest—and perhaps most important—effort to help make sure that locals benefit from the state’s growing film industry
http://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/303264/

www.myajc.com
Immigrants without legal status sue for in-state tuition in Georgia
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/immigrants-without-legal-status-sue-for-in-state-t/nrCHm/
By Janel Davis and Jeremy Redmon – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ten immigrants who have received a special reprieve from deportation filed suit in the Fulton County Superior Court Tuesday, seeking once again to force the Georgia Board of Regents to allow them to pay substantially lower in-state college tuition here. The lawsuit focuses on students who have been admitted into the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. The program grants deportation deferrals and work permits to immigrants who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children, who don’t have felony convictions and who are enrolled in school here. Georgia’s in-state tuition policy requires “lawful presence.” So the plaintiffs are pointing to federal records that say DACA recipients are “lawfully present” in the U.S.

www.wsbtv.com
Students at UGA protest campus carry law
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/clarke-county/anti-campus-carry-rally-at-uga/245931622
by: Kimberly Richardson
CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. — Students at The University of Georgia are protesting against the new campus carry law. The Legislature passed it, but the governor has yet to sign. A few dozen people were by the arch at UGA, holding signs, speaking to the crowd, chanting and cheering. Students, professors and Athens community members gathered at the arch on Broad Street on the UGA campus and made their voices heard. They rallied against a bill that would legalize guns on college campuses.

www.11alive.com
Will the proposed ‘Campus Carry’ bill pass?
http://www.11alive.com/news/politics/campus-carry-signed-into-law/154278144
Matthew Pearl, WXIA
May 3 marks the deadline for Gov. Nathan Deal (R) to sign or veto a bill that would allow guns on college campuses. HB 859 was arguably, after the religious freedom bill, the most contentious one in 2016’s legislative session. The bill, more widely known as the campus carry bill, passed the Senate and House with strong majorities. Now, only one signature remains. This bill would legalize concealed-carry weapons on Georgia colleges, and it’s got many people keeping a watchful eye on it split. “I’m expecting the Governor to not sign this,” said Georgia Tech professor Brian Stone. “I’m always optimistic about getting a good gun bill passed,” said Executive Director of Georgiacarry.org Jerry Henry … But Stone, an opponent of the bill, says he has yet to meet either a student or faculty member who’s supportive of the proposed legislation. He’s been joined by faculty and students state-wide who have Tweeted with the hashtag #VetoHB859. Students and faculty at the University of Georgia will also rally Wednesday at the Arch. “We have a top 10 public university that’s going to be subject to a campus carry law,” he said. …Opponents to the bill have been joined by one of UGA’s most famous alums. REM lead singer Michael Stipe, who this week wrote an Op-Ed in USA Today saying, “I hope the governor listens to his constituents and does what’s in the best interest of all citizens of Georgia by vetoing this dangerous bill.”

www.jaybookman.blog.myajc.com
Gov. Deal knows what he ought to do on campus gun bill
Gov. Deal knows what he ought to do on campus gun bill
By Jay Bookman
Gov. Nathan Deal says he still doesn’t know what he’ll do about House Bill 859, the bill awaiting his signature or veto that would allow concealed weapons to be carried on college campuses in Georgia. And maybe he truly doesn’t. However, by now he knows what he ought to do. He ought to veto it. In fact, he has all but said so himself. As he pointed out last month in urging the Legislature to withdraw and amend the bill, HB 859 as passed allows guns to be carried not just into college classrooms but also into college disciplinary hearings and college administrative and faculty offices. It also allows them to be carried into campus day-care centers, and it gives campus officials no discretion to override or adjust the law to the needs of their campus. Think about that. If you’re a college professor and an armed student marches into your office, demanding a changed grade, the law would give you no recourse or grounds to object. In fact, given the air of political intimidation surrounding this issue, it would probably be the complaining professor who would be disciplined in that scenario, not the armed student. … But all of them testify to the risk involved when firearms are introduced into places they should not be, and into hands that should not hold them. Advocates of “campus carry” would like us to assume that guns will be handled responsibly and safely, but the evidence is to the contrary. Furthermore, they have blocked every effort to legally require the high degree of responsibility that ought to come with gun ownership. Again, Deal knows all that. He knows what he ought to do, what leadership and stewardship require of him. I just hope that he carries through with it.

www.onlineathens.com
Deal: No decision yet on allowing guns on Georgia campuses
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2016-04-27/deal-no-decision-yet-allowing-guns-georgia-campuses
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA | Georgia’s governor says he hasn’t made a decision on legislation allowing concealed handguns on the state’s college campuses. Gov. Nathan Deal said Wednesday at a ceremony to sign another bill that he’s listening to “passionate” people on both sides of the issue. Deal says he has a hard choice to make but will do what’s best for as many Georgians as possible. He indicated a decision won’t come until next week. Deal has until Tuesday to sign or veto the measure. It becomes law if he takes no action by then.

USG Institutions:
www.ajc.com
Former senator, Valdosta president Cecil Staton to lead East Carolina
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/former-senator-valdosta-president-cecil-staton-to-/nrCsy/
Janel Davis, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cecil Staton, interim president at Valdosta State University, has been selected as the next chancellor of East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. He will continue to serve in his role at Valdosta State until June 30, said a statement from the University System of Georgia on Wednesday. “Cecil’s contributions to Valdosta State and the University System of Georgia will benefit our students for years to come,” Chancellor Hank Huckaby said in the statement. “Cecil stepped in at a critical time and has led an important role for us. I thank Cecil for his service to our university system and wish him and his family all the best.” The UNC Board of Governors announced Staton as the new leader of the school Wednesday, according to local media reports. Staton, a Greenville native, was selected from a group of 11 candidates. He is expected to begin at ECU on July 1.

www.newsobserver.com
New East Carolina University chancellor has varied background
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article74243557.html
BY JANE STANCILL
CHAPEL HILL
Cecil Staton has a career about as varied as any university leader – a religion scholar, faculty member, administrator, entrepreneur and state senator in Georgia. On Wednesday, he was elected as East Carolina University’s next chancellor by the UNC Board of Governors in a unanimous vote. A campus search committee had identified several finalists, and UNC President Margaret Spellings nominated Staton to the board. Staton, 58, is now interim president of Valdosta State University in Georgia and vice chancellor for extended education for the University System of Georgia. He starts the ECU job July 1, at an annual salary of $450,000, succeeding Steve Ballard, who has led the Greenville campus for 12 years. Spellings said Staton brings “a rare blend of leadership experience in higher education, the private sector and elected public office, as well as a practical understanding of how to bring diverse communities and constituencies and organizations together to get things done.” In the past year at the 11,300-student Valdosta State, Staton turned around enrollment declines, pumped up fundraising and expanded online and competency-based education programs, Spellings said. The year before that, he took on the role as a vice chancellor for the Georgia public higher education system, which has 29 campuses and 318,000 students. He served five terms in the Georgia state Senate, from 2004 to 2014, where he was vice chairman of the Senate Republican caucus and majority whip. He led appropriations subcommittees on community health and higher education. He said Wednesday he played the role of “the chief cheerleader for higher education” in the legislature.

See also:
VSU’s Staton to lead East Carolina U.
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/vsu-s-staton-to-lead-east-carolina-u/article_af16a3ce-ee93-54f0-bd8a-1ff6daeefd74.html

Staton elected chancellor of East Carolina University
http://www.macon.com/news/local/education/article74238542.html

Former Georgia legislator named new chancellor at ECU
http://www.wsbradio.com/ap/ap/north-carolina/former-georgia-legislator-named-new-chancellor-at-/nrCxg/

UNC Board of Governors names Dr. Cecil Staton as ECU chancellor (with video)
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/SOURCES–Georgia-educator-former-lawmaker-expected-to-be-named-ECU-chancellor-377172111.html

UNC Board of Governors selects Dr. Cecil Staton as new ECU chancellor
http://www.wcti12.com/news/unc-board-of-governors-selects-dr-cecil-staton-as-new-ecu-chancellor/39243376

UNC Board of Governors elect Cecil Staton as ECU’s new chancellor (with video)
UNC Board of Governors elect Cecil Staton as ECU’s new chancellor

Cecil P. Staton Elected Chancellor Of ECU
http://www.ecupirates.com/genrel/042716aaf.html

New chancellor: Student-first ECU will thrive
http://www.reflector.com/News/2016/04/28/New-ECU-Chancellor.html

www.myajc.com
Missing Georgia State student found safe, Gwinnett police say
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/crime-law/missing-georgia-state-student-may-have-left-volunt/nrCHs/
By Steve Burns – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Georgia State University student missing since Friday has been located safe, police said Tuesday evening. For confidentiality reasons, Monique Priester’s location was not disclosed, Gwinnett police Cpl. Michelle Pihera said in a statement. Earlier Tuesday, police had said that Priester, who had been missing since Friday, may have left home voluntarily. Priester, 21, told her mother she was on the university’s downtown Atlanta campus and planning to catch an Uber back to the family’s Dacula home. She’d taken one from Gwinnett to Georgia State earlier in the day, apparently without incident. On the return trip, she said she was going to ride with other people, according to Channel 2 Action News. Police offered a different version of events on Tuesday.

www.ajc.com
4 UGA students killed, 1 critical after crash in Oconee County
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/4-uga-students-dead-after-crash-in-oconee-county/nrDBM/
Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just days before the end of the school year, tragedy struck the University of Georgia community. A two-vehicle crash Wednesday night killed four students and left a fifth in critical condition. Investigators believe the five women were traveling northbound on Ga. 15, toward the UGA campus, when the white Toyota Camry crossed the center line, according to the Georgia State Patrol. A southbound Chevrolet Cobalt struck the side of the Toyota on the two-lane road in Watkinsville shortly before 9 p.m. Kayla Canedo, 19, of Alpharetta; Brittany Feldman, 20, of Alpharetta; Christina Semeria, 19, of Milton; and Halle Scott, 19, of Dunwoody all died. …UGA President Jere Morehead, who planned to hold a news conference at 11 a.m., said he was deeply saddened by the students’ deaths. “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of our students who were victims,” Morehead said. “We ask that you keep these students and their family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.”

www.onlineathens.com
Faculty group wants do-over on UGA gender equity study
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2016-04-27/faculty-group-wants-do-over-uga-gender-equity-study
By LEE SHEARER
A University of Georgia faculty committee will ask administrators for a do-over of a consultant’s study on gender salary differences at the university. The consultant concluded there was no statistical differences in the pay of men and women faculty members at UGA, but so far, members of the University Council’s Human Resources committee haven’t been able to get university administrators or the consultant to reveal how the consultant came to that conclusion. That may be OK in the world of paid consultants, but in a university setting, you’re expected to show exactly how you come up with your conclusions, said committee member Amy Rosemond, a tenured professor in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology.

www.insidehighered.com
Georgia Tech’s Next Steps
Online master’s program in computer science — a much-watched attempt to apply the MOOC model to for-credit programs — may not be the big revenue generator the institute projected it would be, but administrators deem it a success and plan to expand it.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/27/georgia-tech-plans-next-steps-online-masters-degree-computer-science
By Carl Straumsheim
Georgia Institute of Technology is working on expansion plans for its affordable online master’s degree program in computer science, even though the program isn’t growing at the rate it first anticipated. “We will start another program,” Georgia Tech President G. P. Peterson said during a recent interview with Inside Higher Ed. “We’re very pleased with the success of the program, and we’re looking to expand it into other areas.” The program was an early pioneer in using courses built on the model of massive open online courses to award credit. Amid the hype about MOOCs and their lackluster completion rates, this was one of a handful of projects that many have been watching (and maybe fearing as competition) — and the institute priced it aggressively. Online students pay $170 a credit hour, compared to $561 for in-state students in the face-to-face program. Together, the institute’s strong reputation, the low price point of the program and the potential to enroll many more students than can fit in a physical classroom presented a promising model … “I couldn’t be happier with where we are,” said Charles L. Isbell Jr., a senior associate dean and professor in the College of Computing. “When I say that the program is successful, I mean it by the financial measures — we’ve got tons of students — but to me the big success is we’ve been able to take a bunch of people who are already clearly qualified and the vast majority of whom would never have been able to get an advanced degree from a great place because they were not mobile. Now they can.”

www.chronicle.com
How Colleges Help Foreign Grad Students With Their Teaching
http://chronicle.com/article/How-Colleges-Help-Foreign-Grad/236218
By Vimal Patel
During her first semester as a graduate teaching assistant at Ohio University, Noora Mahboubeh was terrified. The Iranian doctoral student in chemical and biomolecular engineering often struggled to understand her students’ questions, and they weren’t always sympathetic to her difficulties with English … For colleges, the challenges faced by foreign graduate teaching assistants like Ms. Mahboubeh are nothing new. Some state legislatures as far back as the 1980s passed laws that require such students to demonstrate a given level of English proficiency before they can teach in the classroom. Many colleges set their own thresholds … A key part of helping international students to communicate more effectively in the classroom is giving them broader cultural skills, says Karen Head, director of the Communication Center at Georgia Tech. International teaching assistants “tend to focus so much on the basic language issues, and, in some ways, that’s often really the last thing they need to be focusing on” Ms. Head says. “I’ve seen grammatically perfect papers that didn’t say anything.” … Staff members in her office and others who work with international students must gently explain American academic culture, Ms. Head says. “Those same apprehensions they have with their research can translate into the classroom.” Her center works on helping international graduate students better explain their research to lay audiences. Like many colleges, Georgia Tech encourages those students to learn how to boil down their dissertations by connecting with competitions like Three Minute Thesis.

Higher Education News:
www.diverseeducation.com
More Than Ever, Parents Weigh Paying Price for College Education

More Than Ever, Parents Weigh Paying Price for College Education

by Jamal Eric Watson
Should parents take out loans to subsidize their kids’ education? That’s the million dollar question. But it’s also a question that parents across the country are now pondering amid the college acceptance letters that their high school seniors have now received. But financial experts say that parents’ decision to finance thousands of dollars to send their child to their “dream” school, may have a devastating impact on their future. From 1989-90 to 2011-12, the percentage of federal student loan borrowers with parent PLUS loans grew 385%, from 4.1% of all borrowers to 19.9%, according to a new analysis by NerdWallet, the website that offers financial advice to college students and their parents. The average total amount paid on those loans, including interest, more than doubled in that time, from $15,323 to $40,154.

www.ajc.com
New report: Only 37 percent of high school seniors ready for college
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/new-report-only-37-percent-of-high-school-seniors-/nrCfP/
Maureen Downey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the few ways to determine how U.S. students are faring as a whole is through a federally administrated test known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card. The release today of 12th grade math and reading scores suggests we aren’t doing well. Given to a representative sample of 32,000 12th graders, NAEP found only 37 percent are prepared for college-level coursework in math and reading. NAEP asks student about their courses and their habits. On the math NAEP test, scores increased when students took higher-level math courses. In reading, students who read for fun every day or almost every day scored higher.

www.diverseeducation.com
Food Assistance Put on Table for Low-Income College Students

Food Assistance Put on Table for Low-Income College Students

by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
The National School Lunch Program — the federally assisted and state-administered program that provides free or reduced price meals to millions of children in school and after-school programs — should be expanded to serve low-income college students as a means of boosting their chances of earning a degree. That’s the key argument of a new proposal being presented this week at a national conference on housing and food insecurity among undergraduates. “Investing in college students by offering them the food assistance they need to do well in school has immense long-term potential,” states the proposal, developed by the Wisconsin Hope Lab, a policy and research organization at the University of Wisconsin that is devoted to issues that confront low-income students. “It will likely improve college attainment and reduce future dependency on the social safety net,” the proposal states.

www.chronicle.com
Things Successful Presidents Do
They convey a coherent vision, they keep their own counsel, and other sound advice
http://chronicle.com/article/Things-Successful-Presidents/236273?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=52d2ea5ca0fb4636b34126c05dbb8a0b&elq=73664e7a1da74e45b39e60476e61bce1&elqaid=8861&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=3014
By Scott Newman
It’s been nearly three years since I was a fellow in the American Council on Education’s flagship leadership-training program, yet I still reflect on what I learned there. A central benefit of the program is the opportunity to spend time with a cross section of senior administrators from a broad array of institutions. During my fellowship, I made a point of meeting presidents and chancellors who were widely regarded as successful. I met more than 40 such CEOs via the program, and they were as different as the institutions they led. But from our conversations, some key similarities emerged in how they succeed at their jobs. Here is my list of practices that successful leaders seem to follow:

www.insidehighered.com
State Support Recovering, but Not Recovered
For the second year in a row, public colleges relied more on state funding and less on tuition revenue, reversing a recent trend.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/27/public-colleges-relied-less-tuition-2015
By Ellen Wexler
When states cut higher education budgets, students make up the difference. Back in 1990, tuition made up 25 percent of public colleges’ revenue. During the recession, state funding fell and tuition rose — and by 2013 the proportion of tuition as a contributor to revenue had nearly doubled, to 47.8 percent. But now, for the second year in a row, the amount of the cost students pay is going down, according to the annual State Higher Education Finance report, released today. In fiscal year 2015, tuition made up 46.5 percent of revenue, the study found. And while that number isn’t anywhere near pre-recession levels, it means that public higher education is slowly starting to recover. But the recovery is spread unevenly, in time and in location.

See also:
State Higher-Education Spending Is Up, but Not Above Pre-Recession Level
http://chronicle.com/article/State-Higher-Education/236259?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=e6742a8f773c4f6a952a8c9e762b60be&elq=cb9c929d856b46509a2daa9fae956088&elqaid=8846&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=3002

www.bloombergview.com
To Save State Universities, Free Them From the States
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-04-11/to-save-state-universities-free-them-from-the-states
By Ronald J. Daniels
Lost in the noise of the presidential primaries is an important policy debate over college affordability. Bernie Sanders has proposed making public colleges and universities tuition-free, and Hillary Clinton has offered a plan that would invest $350 billion over 10 years in higher education. The focus on funding for public universities is not surprising given the financial pressures they have faced over the last several decades. Since 2000, public universities on average have lost a remarkable 25 percent of their state funding per student.  But alongside the money issue is a separate set of state policy and governance constraints that also impair the flexibility and vitality of public universities. From annual state budget disputes to onerous rules, these controls have made public universities vulnerable to a most venal form of destabilizing political intervention.

www.hechingerreport.org
Report: Last affordable options for college students are fast disappearing

Report: Last affordable options for college students are fast disappearing

by MIKHAIL ZINSHTEYN
The converging trends of falling state investment, rising tuition, and stagnant incomes has finally pushed higher education out of the grasp of low- and middle-income Americans, even at community colleges, a new report contends. College is less affordable now, when adjusted for inflation, than it was before the economic downturn, student financial aid no longer is enough to fill the gap, and low- and middle-income families already are having trouble making ends meet just to cover living expenses, the report said. “If you’re making $10,000 to $30,000 a year, and you need 10 percent to 15 percent of family income to attend community college, it’s just not going to happen,” said Joni Finney, director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania and coauthor of the study … The result is that far fewer low- and middle-income students will enroll in college at a time when the country has set a goal of producing more degree-holders to stay competitive with international economic rivals.

www.insidehighered.com
Obama Admin Sets New Income-Based Repayment Goal
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/04/28/obama-admin-sets-new-income-based-repayment-goal?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=c63d1912bd-DNU20160428&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-c63d1912bd-197515277
The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it wants to enroll an additional 2 million federal student loan borrowers in income-based repayment programs in the next year. Already some 4.8 million federal loan borrowers are using some type of income-based repayment programs, which the Obama administration has expanded. Enrollment in income-based repayment programs has more than doubled over the past several years, yet officials said that far more borrowers could benefit from them. The White House said that it had partnered with some colleges and businesses to help further spread the word about such programs. And the Education Department said it would boost its efforts to target borrowers who would be most helped by the plans.

www.hechingerreport.org
The troubling use of ‘merit aid’ at public flagships and research universities
Which eight public universities spent 100 percent of institutional aid on non-needy students in 2014-15?

The troubling use of ‘merit aid’ at public flagships and research universities

Column by STEPHEN BURD
On average, $1 out of every $3 that public research universities and land-grant institutions spent on financial aid in the 2014-15 academic year went to students without financial need, according to a new analysis of institutional aid data that I conducted. This analysis focused on public universities represented by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), which lobbies on behalf of the most prestigious public universities in North America. This isn’t the first time I have looked at the use of non-need-based aid, which is otherwise known as “merit aid,” at public four-year colleges. In the past, I have focused on the share of students without financial need who receive merit aid at different state universities. While those data showed how pervasive merit aid is at public higher education institutions, the new data—which I gathered from information that colleges disclose as part of an annual survey called the “Common Data Set”—are even more revealing. Overall, I examined institutional aid expenditures at 134 of APLU’s U.S.-based member institutions. Unfortunately, I had to leave out 53 schools that either did not post their “Common Data Set” on their websites or have yet to report data for the 2014-15 school year.