University System News:
www.ajc.com
Bill Gates gives kudos to Georgia State for work to improve graduation rates
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/bill-gates-gives-kudos-georgia-state-for-work-improve-graduation-rates/EOn4DaxpaEdcYu5qdj4XML/
Eric Stirgus The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bill Gates has given a rare, public shout out to a Georgia university for its work to improve its graduation rates. Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and one of the world’s richest men, visited its Atlanta campus this summer and wrote in a blog post this week that he was “amazed” by what he learned about Georgia State University’s efforts to boost its graduation rates. Georgia State’s graduation rate has increased in over the last decade from 32 percent to 54 percent, Gates wrote. “What’s more, there is no achievement gap at GSU,” wrote Gates. “African-American, Hispanic, and low-income students all graduate at rates at or above those of the student body overall. GSU is one of the only public universities in the country to achieve this goal. And over the last four years, GSU has conferred more degrees to African Americans than any other college or university in the U.S.”
www.vsuspectator.com
VSU plans to officially induct Carvajal as president
http://www.vsuspectator.com/2017/10/04/vsu-plans-officially-induct-carvajal-president/
After 10 months on campus, Dr. Richard Carvajal will be offically installed as the 10th president of VSU on Oct. 27. The university will host a three-day festival surrounding the installation, which will include appearances by dignitaries and well-known alumni, live music performances, a presidential tailgate and several other events. Carvajal will be sworn in by the Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, Steve Wrigley. Carvajal took over as president on Jan. 1 of this year. Before this, he served as the interim president of Darton State College for two years and the president of Bainbridge State College for four years. Since arriving on campus, Carvajal has focused a lot of his energy on a campaign to increase student retention. He has maintained a regular presence around campus and at VSU athletic events.
www.albanyherald.com
Tau Kadhi replaced as provost of Albany State University
Kimberly Holmes has been appointed to the position on an interim basis
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/tau-kadi-replaced-as-provost-of-albany-state-university/article_a2226828-5f0a-5813-95d6-5b3bb3acf618.html#utm_source=albanyherald.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fbreaking%2F%3F-dc%3D1507150356&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline
By Terry Lewis
Albany State University said late Wednesday that provost and vice president for academic affairs Tau Kadhi will no longer serve in that capacity. According to a statement released by the university, the decision was reached Wednesday. ASU officials did not say whether Kadhi was still with the university in another capacity or whether he resigned from the position. Albany State University President Art Dunning, in the statement, said Kadhi would no longer serve in the role of provost. Kadhi had been responsible for leading the consolidation efforts regarding the new university faculty and educational programs. Dunning also announced the immediate appointment of Kimberly Holmes as interim provost and vice president of academic affairs.
See also:
www.walb.com
Albany State University appoints interim provost
http://www.walb.com/story/36523190/albany-state-university-appoints-interim-provost
www.wrbl.com
CSU’s Schwob School of Music: A hub for international students
http://wrbl.com/2017/10/04/csus-schwob-school-of-music-a-hub-for-international-students/
By justinholbrock
Columbus State University is taking the international language of music and using it to attract students from all around the world to the Schwob School of Music. The school of music is a nearly 50-year-old program where students from near and far come to be a part of. “With faculty all over the world, we attract students from all over the world,” Schwob School of Music Director Dr. Scott Harris said. One former student, who is now professor at the school, came to CSU after being recruited in his home country of Israel. …The school invests heavily in sending its renown professors abroad to not only perform, but also recruit. The result: A diverse makeup of talented musicians from 20 different countries who now call Columbus home.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Post-Recession Borrowers Struggle to Repay Loans
Borrowers, especially those who attend less selective institutions or who drop out, increasingly struggle to pay back loans.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/10/05/new-federal-data-student-borrowing-repayment-and-default?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=948d0f34e9-DNU20171005&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-948d0f34e9-197515277&mc_cid=948d0f34e9&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Andrew Kreighbaum
New federal data show that college students are taking out more student loan debt and also taking longer to pay it off. The report from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, released today, examines patterns of student loan repayment for two separate groups of borrowers — those who started college in the 1995-96 academic year and those who started eight years later, in 2003-04. Twelve years after beginning their postsecondary educations, the second group had paid off a smaller proportion of their student loans and had defaulted at a higher rate on at least one loan. In addition to the rising price of college, multiple factors may have contributed to changing profile of student loan repayment. Students who entered college in 2003 would have graduated or left college around the time the U.S. entered the Great Recession. Changes in federal policy also have made options like income-driven repayment more popular. And experts say the composition of student loan borrowers has changed, too, as enrollment at community colleges and for-profit institutions spiked in the recession’s wake.
www.diverseeducation.com
Merging of Savings Accounts Proposed for College Funding
http://diverseeducation.com/article/102616/?utm_campaign=DIV1710%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20OCT5&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
WASHINGTON — Children’s savings accounts and college promise initiatives could be stronger if the two funding mechanisms for higher education were merged together, a professor argues in new paper that drew praise from a U.S. Senator who says he plans to pursue legislation and funding that would make it easier to do just that. The idea was proffered Wednesday by Dr. William Elliott III, a professor of social work at the University of Michigan. For Elliott, children’s savings accounts — or CSAs — can ameliorate a host of problems associated with going to college and paying for it since they involve investing in a child’s college education on the front end with savings instead of at the back end with grants and debt. Among other things, Elliott said CSAs have been shown to boost children’s social and emotional development as early as age 4, help form a college-going identity, and increase parental expectations around their children’s eventual college enrollment. But when it comes to going to college and paying for it, there are also issues of equity that must be taken into account, Elliott said. “It’s not just about whether or not a kid goes to college with student debt,” Elliott said. “If a kid goes to college, pays for it with debt and ends up with worse financial outcomes than a kid who went to college and didn’t use debt, to me that’s a failure in the end, because we’re not reducing inequality in society.” Elliott expounds on his ideas in a new paper that is part of a larger policy report — titled “Designing Sustainable Funding for College Promise Initiatives” — that was presented Wednesday by ETS, the Princeton, N.J.-based education assessment organization, and the College Promise Campaign, a national initiative that seeks to build public support to make the first two years of college free.
www.walb.com
Study: For-profits to blame for most student debt defaults
http://www.walb.com/story/36525375/study-for-profits-to-blame-for-most-student-debt-defaults
By MARIA DANILOVA
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) – Students who attended for-profit colleges were twice as likely or more to default on their loans than students who attended public schools, according to a federal study published Thursday. The report by the National Center of Education Statistics looks at students who began their undergraduate education in 2003 and defaulted on at least one loan over the next 12 years. Fifty-two percent of the students who attended for-profit schools defaulted on their loan. That’s compared to 17 percent for those who attended a four-year public institution and 26 percent at community college. The report also finds that the for-profit students defaulted on their federal student loans in greater numbers than their predecessors eight years before. The report comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rewrites rules that had been put in place by the Obama administration to protect students who said they were defrauded by their for-profit colleges. The study also found that this group of students is defaulting on their federal student loans in greater numbers than their predecessors eight years before.
www.news4jax.com
Universities could reap rewards for fast-tracking students
https://www.news4jax.com/news/universities-could-reap-rewards-for-fast-tracking-students
By Lloyd Dunkelberger, News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida universities may win additional state funding if more of their undergraduates can earn their degrees in four years. That was the proposal discussed Tuesday by the Board of Governors’ Budget and Finance Committee, which held a workshop on performance standards at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. Nothing is settled but a majority of the committee members expressed interest in changing the current six-year graduation rate measure to a four-year metric. “There’s no question that doing four years is better for the students,” said Ned Lautenbach, chairman of the BOG’s budget and finance panel. “If we can get more of these kids out of here in four years, it’s going to be less expensive and they get jobs faster. It all works in the right direction.”
www.chronicle.com
Penn State Fraternity Is Suspended After Student Is Found Unconscious
http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/penn-state-fraternity-is-suspended-after-student-is-found-unconscious/120451?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=384816718f7a4caab071b4a8072465e1&elq=4c9eea1c7924425f94ff04d80b72ff49&elqaid=15925&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=6866
by Liam Adams
Pennsylvania State University on Wednesday suspended the Delta Tau Delta fraternity after a student suspected of drinking there was found unconscious and was hospitalized, according to the Associated Press. The 18-year-old male student was found unconscious in a State College street by the local police in late September. He is now recovering, said Lisa Powers, a university spokeswoman. The suspension of Delta Tau Delta followed the death of a freshman, Timothy Piazza, at another fraternity’s initiation event in February. His death resulted in criminal charges against several members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity who were present at the event.