As headlines about higher education go, this has to be one of the most clever: “Highbrow Robbery: The Colleges Call It Tuition, We Call It Plunder.” The opening line was: “Everybody seems to agree these days that college costs too much.” The date of the story, from one of my back issues of the excellent Washington Monthly magazine: 1983.
College students in the Washington, D.C., area—and their children—are getting a boost from an innovative nonprofit organization that takes a two-pronged approach to education success. Generation Hope’s “two-generation model” provides direct services to the students themselves—including tuition assistance, academic advising, child care, peer mentoring, and parental counseling—while helping prepare their preschoolers for success in kindergarten.
State College, Pa.- Just before 4 p.m. on a frigid Friday in mid-December, Quanisha Smith boards a Blue Loop bus on Penn State’s University Park campus. She’s heading to a place she’s visited more times than she cares to count: the bursar’s office. She’s hoping to resolve the hold on her account, which shows an […]
This summer marks the third anniversary of year-round Pell grants, where students can receive extra Pell funding to enroll in summer classes and complete their programs faster. Summer Pell is a critical resource, but it doesn’t begin to solve all of the affordability issues facing today’s students, including federal aid restrictions for many student populations, the pressure of costs beyond tuition (such as childcare), and lack of financing options for quality workforce training programs.
In December, the University of Arizona’s veterans center moved into a new space of 3,800 square feet. Nicholls, the assistant dean, shows a visitor the computer lab, a lounge and a quiet area where students unwind. He talks about the “vets-tutoring-vets” program and a résumé-writing course. He points toward a display of military patches and nameplates. “In the military, your job defines who you are,” he explains.
For 13 years, Washington Monthly has ranked colleges on metrics such as social mobility, research, and public service, instead of exclusivity and prestige. This year’s report includes a first-ever ranking of America’s best colleges for vocational certificates. View the report’s complete rankings here.
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To support independent, policy-oriented journalism about issues vital to creating a better-educated country.
To support independent, policy-oriented journalism about issues vital to creating a better-educated country.