1. Is admissions broken?
This first-generation student says it is. Whether you’re an upper- or middle-class student under serious pressure to get into a notable college or a lower-class student struggling to overcome barriers that prevent access to any college, notable or not, those on both sides of the socioeconomic spectrum would benefit from an admissions process that makes it easier to get in.
2. It’s never too early to benefit from diversity’s lessons.
Middle schoolers who attend more racially- and ethnically-diverse schools report less vulnerability, loneliness, insecurity and bullying. Why? “There’s more of a balance of power in these diverse schools,” says Sandra Graham. Graham is one of the authors of a paper in Child Development that shares findings from a recent study of 6,000 sixth graders in 26 middle schools.
3. Are apprenticeships a viable alternative to crushing student debt?
The President thinks so: “Apprenticeships place students into great jobs, without the crippling debt of traditional four-year college degrees. Instead, apprentices learn while they earn,” he said about his Apprenticeship and Workforce of Tomorrow executive order. This Bloomberg article explores how this alternative to college may actually affect tomorrow’s workforce.
4. We all know assessment is key. Why’s it so hard to implement?
Marketing loves to play up strengths and dazzle consumers with aspirational claims, but this approach doesn’t help students determine which college will offer them the “quality” education that will actually help them meet their goals. EdSurge covers an on-going attempt to issue quality assurance standards for higher ed programs.
Recommended Reading
Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery and the Troubled History of America’s Universities
Do they have a copy at your local library? WorldCat will tell you.
Yale, Harvard and Georgetown aren’t the only universities that have intimate ties to slavery, but they are a few that are taking steps to acknowledge this grim aspect of their past. Wilder looks into these institutions and more in this title, exploring how slavery has built colleges and yet access to these institutions remains elusive for those who descended from these Americans that paid so much for them.