University System News:
www.wgauradio.com
UGA TOP 10 IN NY TIMES RANKINGS
http://www.wgauradio.com/news/local/uga-top-times-rankings/RVkr4jGOzEaJ47M5KAMkJO/
By: Bryant Tim
The New York Times has once again ranked the University of Georgia 10th among the nation’s top public universities based on its commitment to economic diversity. The New York Times College Access Index ranks institutions based on the share of incoming first-year students who receive Pell Grants, the graduation rate of those students, and the average cost of attendance for low- and middle-income students. Only institutions with an overall five-year graduation rate of 75 percent or higher are examined for the index. UGA is ranked 27th among all universities. … Among both public and private universities, Georgia Tech is ranked 64th while Emory University is ranked 76th. UGA is consistently ranked among the nation’s very best public universities. It is ranked 18th among public universities in latest U.S. News and World Report ranking, for example, and is ranked 10th in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of 100 best values among public colleges and universities.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA ranks high for low-income accessibility, New York Times says
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-06-01/uga-ranks-high-low-income-accessibility-new-york-times-says
By Lee Shearer
The University of Georgia is one of the schools doing the most to make college accessible to low-income students, according to the New York Times. UGA ranked 27th overall and 10th among public universities in the newspaper’s annual ranking.
www.mdjonline.com
Georgia State hosting new program for high-schoolers
http://www.mdjonline.com/neighbor_newspapers/northside_sandy_springs/georgia-state-hosting-new-program-for-high-schoolers/article_db349020-46fb-11e7-b6e3-ef1975a30cdc.html
Georgia State University’s downtown Atlanta campus will introduce a new, innovative summer research program, Catch Them Young, …Catch Them Young provides high school students in metro Atlanta with an opportunity to work on scientific research projects in a university research laboratory under one-on-one mentorship of Georgia State graduate students and faculty researchers.
www.jdjournal.com
10 Law Schools Where Grads Have $65K of Debt or Less
ByTeresa Lo
U.S. News and World Report has compiled a list of the top 10 law schools where students take on the least amount of debt. The ten schools listed cost around $65,000 or less, and while none of them are the top 10 of the publication’s best law schools in the nation, most of the more affordable choices listed are still viable options. For instance, Brigham Young University ranks 46 on the publication’s list of Best Law schools; and University of Nebraska-Lincoln (57), Rutgers (62), and Georgia State University (65) also cracked the top 100. These schools are great options for people who plan to practice in the jurisdiction of their school’s location. …Law Schools Where Grads Have the Least Debt by U.S. News and World Report:
7. Georgia State University – $64,384
www.ajc.com
Kennesaw State receives $500,000 donation for its School of Music
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/kennesaw-state-receives-500-000-donation-for-its-school-music/J1SZeYnO7KtciIGRTXVVdO/
Eric Stirgus
Kennesaw State University officials announced Thursday it has received a $500,000 donation for its School of Music. The contribution by Buckhead resident Katherine Scott will be used for the School of Music’s programs, upkeep of the 3,600-square-foot rehearsal space in the Center and help to maintain the school’s 47 Steinway pianos. The university renamed its rehearsal hall after Scott. She is the widow of Charles “Red” Scott, the former president and chief executive officer of The Actava Group (Fuqua Industries).
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Universities Urged to Use Body-Worn Cameras for Police
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/06/02/universities-urged-use-body-worn-cameras-police?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=19d02d20a3-DNU20170602&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-19d02d20a3-197515277&mc_cid=19d02d20a3&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Carl Straumsheim
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities is encouraging its 237 member institutions to equip its campus police departments with body-worn cameras — or at least test the technology. …Body-worn cameras are already in use at several campus police departments across the country.
www.chronicle.com
Think State Budget Cuts Explain Tuition Hikes? Not So Fast, Says One Researcher
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Think-State-Budget-Cuts/240243?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest
By Beckie Supiano
Ask an expert why college prices keep rising, and you’ll probably hear that a major factor is states’ disinvestment from public universities. When states cut their support, the argument goes, colleges must charge more tuition to make up for it. But in a report released on Thursday, Jason Delisle, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that the research supporting this assertion is not nearly as robust as one might expect. Mr. Delisle identifies just three rigorous studies addressing the question in the past 20 years, and highlights instances of the relationship between state cuts and tuition hikes being presented as a given. Mr. Delisle contrasts this to the stronger appetite for investigating another explanation for tuition hikes, the “Bennett hypothesis,” which is named for William J. Bennett, a former secretary of education under President Reagan. That long-debated theory posits that wide availability of federal student aid drives colleges to raise their prices.
www.npr.org
College Access Index Shows Shrinking Levels Of Economic Diversity
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/30/530769825/college-access-index-shows-shrinking-levels-of-economic-diversity
NPR’s Robert Siegel speaks with New York Times columnist David Leonhardt about how this year’s college access index shows that economic diversity is shrinking at American colleges.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: How economically diverse are America’s colleges? That’s a question The New York Times has been asking in an annual survey the paper’s been doing for the past couple of years. The big takeaway this year, according to Times columnist David Leonhardt, is that economic diversity at the nation’s public, four-year colleges is on the decline. And David Leonhardt joins us.
www.diverseeducation.com
Advocates View HBCUs’ Future Warily
https://diverseeducation.com/article/97116/?utm_campaign=DIV1706%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20JUN2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Ya-Marie Sesay
Many historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) still are in the process of rebuilding their student base after a precipitous decline in enrollments that began with a change in how the Parent PLUS loans were granted, and others face budgetary distresses that threaten their survival. Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), struck a somber note Friday at a panel, “Historically Black Colleges and Universities and The Road Ahead,” at the American Enterprise Institute. “We are hopeful, but not optimistic,” Taylor said. Taylor said that for HBCUs to ensure their survival in the upcoming years, they must be “critical, not destructively critical, but constructively critical.” He suggested that HBCUs and their advocates need to begin planning what the institutions need to look like 50 years from now, to ensure they are keeping up with the constant changes in the generations to come.
www.insidehighered.com
Indirect Costs Back in the Crosshairs
Lawmakers show renewed interest in examining how reimbursements for federally funded research are made to universities but don’t yet endorse dramatically lower flat rate outlined in Trump budget.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/06/02/research-advocates-push-back-trump-proposal-dont-see-imminent-cuts-university
By Andrew Kreighbaum
Advocates for university-based research are working hard to make sure Congress doesn’t buy into what they say is a specious argument made by the Trump administration: that the federal government can cut reimbursement payments to research institutions without undermining the quality of the studies themselves. In March, after the release of the White House’s skinny budget for the 2018 fiscal year, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told congressional appropriators that large proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health could be covered by reducing indirect-cost payments to universities. The complete budget proposal released by the Trump administration last week spelled out those lower reimbursement rates for NIH — payments for indirect costs would be capped at 10 percent of an NIH grant value. That approach, the administration said, would bring reimbursement rates in line with those made to private foundations.
www.insidehighered.com
New Guide on Undergraduate STEM Education
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/06/02/new-guide-undergraduate-stem-education?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=19d02d20a3-DNU20170602&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-19d02d20a3-197515277&mc_cid=19d02d20a3&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Colleen Flaherty
The Association of American Universities, which works, in part, to improve math, science, engineering and technology education for undergraduates, this week released a report on “Essential Questions and Data Sources for Continuous Improvement of Undergraduate STEM Teaching and Learning.” It includes questions to aid faculty discussions on STEM education at the course, department, division and campus level on pedagogy, scaffolding and cultural change. There are key data sources and other tools to guide institutional decisions, along with information on evaluating quality and effectiveness of instruction.