Press coverage of College Choices for Adults Web site
2009 Aug 4
After years of hard work and much deep thinking by myself and the leaders of several leading adult-serving colleges and universities, it is gratifying to see the media are recognizing Transparency by Design. U.S. News & World Report, Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education have published articles that examine this accountability initiative and its recently launched Web site: College Choices for Adults. You can read them at the links below and provide your own comments (either here or on their Web sites).
http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/2009/08/04/how-much-do-colleges-really-teach-students.html
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/08/04/transparency
http://chronicle.com/article/New-Web-Site-Compares-Student/47924/
Capella also just launched our own learning outcomes and accountability Web site, which provides even more in-depth information about the programs we offer and what Capella learners will actually take away from their education. You can view it at CapellaResults.com.
Mike
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Better than Free Beer? – Online Education
2009 Jul 20
In this Chronicle of Higher Education commentary, Margaret Brooks claims that online courses are better than free beer. Actually, she is responding to a colleague who does not like online courses who stated that it was wrong to offer online courses just because students demand them because “students demand free beer, too; that does not mean we should give it to them.”
What Brooks actually does is to lay out some excellent reasons why online courses should be offered by colleges. Among those reasons are getting students more engaged in their courses, allowing for different learning styles, making college more accessible and more affordable, and more.
She wrote an interesting commentary. And, she just may be right that online courses might be preferred over free beer. I had just never thought about it quite like that before.
Your thoughts? Please feel free to leave a comment.
Mike
Share ThisThe Next Bubble to Burst – Higher Education?
2009 Jul 15
This article from the Chronicle of Higher Education has been getting a good deal of attention at schools across the country. It certainly addresses the problem of increasing costs for higher education. The authors’ statement that “Consumers who have questioned whether it is worth spending $1,000 a square foot for a home are now asking whether it is worth spending $1,000 a week to send their kids to college” does get the reader’s attention.
I think the more interesting aspects of the article have to do with Pat Callan’s worry that “low-income students will find college unaffordable.” There are really three “e” phrases that jump from the article: economic downturn, equity of access, and efficiency. Certainly the convergence of increasing costs and economic downturn could cause some unexpected outcomes. The idea that higher education would only be available to the economically privileged would be a major setback for a nation that is only beginning to achieve equity in access. And, it is obvious that colleges and universities need to become more efficient in order to maintain current costs, if not reduce them.
Perhaps the bubble may burst—what do you think? Please feel free to leave a comment.
Mike
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The Evidence on Online Education: It’s the Design, Not the Medium
2009 Jul 7
As stated by Inside Higher Ed, reporting on a newly released meta-analysis of research by the U. S. Department of Education, “online learning has definite advantages over face-to-face instruction when it comes to teaching and learning.” Wow—this is what those of us involved in online learning have been arguing for some time in the face of strong biases that face-to-face was clearly superior. So, this is very good news.
But, we need to delve into the details to get a better understanding of what lies under this conclusion. And, to acknowledge that the Department researchers express concern about the lack of research comparing face-to-face, blended, and purely online education, especially at the K-12 level.
What the analysts determined is that, while online has advantages over face-to-face instruction, blended learning (a mix of face-to-face and online) has even more statistical advantage over face-to-face than purely online instruction has. But, let’s not diminish the conclusion that purely online learning results in better learning outcomes than purely face-to-face learning. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Four-Year College Myth
2009 Jun 30
The premise of this blog is that the prevailing view about who attends college, and how they engage, is way off the mark. The general assumption is that students go directly to college after high school, live on a campus, and study full time. That view drives public policy decisions even though it addresses a distinct minority of contemporary college students. Roughly 85% of today’s college students are older, work, and often study part-time.
So you can imagine how pleased I was to see this Boston Globe article, which describes what it calls “the four-year college myth,” the idealized view that college students graduate from high school and go directly to a college campus, study full-time, and finish in four years. Not the way it happens. In fact, the article’s author, Neil Swidey, states that his rough calculations using federal data would indicate that fewer than 10 percent of adults who have a bachelor’s degree earned that degree in four years or less. He writes, “By definition, that’s no longer traditional. It’s radical, and it makes you wonder why we still call them four-year colleges.” Read the rest of this entry »
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End the Graduate University?
2009 Jun 22
Basically, Mark C. Taylor argues that the “dirty little secret” is that graduate students are underpaid for the work they do in helping teach and run laboratories for undergraduate students. Taylor’s argument is that higher education needs to be “rigorously regulated and completely restructured” just like “Wall Street and Detroit.” I am not sure I agree with that, but Taylor follows up with some interesting ideas … curriculum, departments, tenure, mandatory retirement, and more. Read the rest of this entry »
Share ThisCollege Assessment: to What End?
2009 Jun 18
This is a perfectly silly piece. To assert that a study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities demonstrates that assessment of learning outcomes is widespread but students don’t know about it is really more than silly. What is the purpose of assessment if students don’t know it is happening, what the results are, or what the expectations were to begin with? To quote about what is lacking, “communication with students about curricular goals and how the colleges measure them.” But, trust us and stop being critical, we are measuring. Read the rest of this entry »
Share ThisAccess Denied at the Very Time of Increased Need for College Graduates
2009 Jun 3
Over the last few months, various public colleges and universities have announced that they are restricting enrollment due to financial reasons. One example is the University of California institutions. See this LA Times article for a story about how it is more difficult to get into the UC institutions this fall. And, the more restrictive admissions are not limited to California. As this editorial illustrates, Washington is facing the same situation. Yakima Valley Community College President Linda Kaminski is quoted as saying “its really the end of access.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Proposals to Transform Student Financial Aid
2009 May 26
A recent Washington Post article reviews the “ambitious” Obama administration plans to change the entire landscape for student financial aid. The article specifically cites the problem of students “amassing debt on a scale that approximates a home mortgage.” I recently posted about increasing concerns over student debt.
The article details how the president wants to terminate the Federal Family Education Loan program, shift all lending authority to the federal government through its Direct Loan program, expand the Pell Grant, provide priority access to Perkins loans for needier students, and to include incentives for colleges to cut costs and raise graduation rates.
While a fight is predicted, these changes are significant. And, while these changes don’t directly address the issues raised in my earlier post, those problems may be ameliorated or even directly addressed as the fiscal 2010 budget initiatives are made into law. As the Post article states, Democratic leaders hope to get the laws in place by October.
At least we know that concerns about student debt are being heard and changes are afoot.
Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.
Mike
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Problems with Student Debt
2009 May 20
Recently, Steve Vodhanel has made comments on this blog about the problems of student loan debt and the impact that such debt can have on people who get caught in a situation where they are unable to get a job that allows them to repay their student loans. A recent media interview on Inside Higher Ed with Alan Collinge, deals with some of the points that Mr. Vodhanel has written about in his comments.
Mr. Collinge has written a book titled The Student Loan Scam (Beacon Hill). He outlines what he sees as the problem with loans, placing emphasis on the fact that student loans are not subject to “standard consumer protections (such as bankruptcy rights, statutes of limitations, refinancing rights, and other free market protections).” While Mr. Vodhanel has questioned whether the problems are associated with for-profit colleges and universities, Mr. Collinge describes his experience with private not-for-profit universities. What is described by Mr. Collinge is troubling, and his call for Congress to “return to standard consumer protections to student loans, and also to terminate some of the more debilitating collection powers . . .” seem to be reasonable and just.
Your comments?
Mike
Share ThisWelcome to The Other 85 Percent. So what does "the other 85 percent" refer to? Research has shown that only about 15 percent of higher education students still fit the traditional definition of young adults age 18 to 22 who live on campus and go to school full time. more
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