Thursday, May 9

EDUCATION

COVID-19 Closures Could Hit Historically Black Colleges Particularly Hard
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EDUCATION, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism

COVID-19 Closures Could Hit Historically Black Colleges Particularly Hard

As the COVID-19 crisis forces many schools to close their campuses and move all courses online, some worry that the pandemic could have a bigger negative impact on the nation’s historically black colleges and universities, than for other campuses. Here, The Conversation US has assembled a panel of experts to forecast what’s in store for HBCUs. How is the outbreak is affecting HBCUs? Marybeth Gasman, professor of education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Rutgers University Marybeth Gasman, professor of education at Rutgers University: I am worried about the technology demands on HBCUs, given how few IT specialists many smaller HBCUs have as well as the costs of managing online classes. I’m also worried about students not having access to Wi-Fi at home or laptops – 75% of HBCU stude...
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Pell Grants are getting their due in the 2020 campaign
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EDUCATION

Pell Grants are getting their due in the 2020 campaign

Just as it did in the 2016 election, college affordability has become a critical issue in the 2020 election. One key difference, however, is unlike in the 2016 election, which was largely devoid of any talk about increasing Pell Grants for students from low- and moderate-income families to pay for college, this time around Pell Grants are part of the discussion. Leading Democratic candidates – Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and, most recently, Joe Biden – have floated their own proposals. Biden’s plan – released in October 2019 – distinguishes itself from those of his competitors, however, by recognizing the important role that Pell Grants do and should play in paying for higher education. Biden has proposed to double the maximum Pell Grant award from its current level ...
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Is online education right for you? 5 questions answered
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EDUCATION

Is online education right for you? 5 questions answered

Editor’s Note: When U.S. News & World Report released its best online education program rankings this year, many schools that fared well in the rankings were quick to call attention to their success. Here, Vanessa Dennen, a researcher of online learning and co-editor-in-chief of the journal The Internet and Higher Education, offers insights into what college students should consider before they enroll in an online degree program. 1. Is online education as easy and convenient as it seems? Online learning may give students a choice about when and where to study, but this flexibility should not be confused with being easy or fast. Learning is a process and it takes time. By studying online, you might be able to eliminate commute time and the dreaded hunt for parking on campus, but you sti...
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African Americans take on more debt for grad school – but the payoff is also bigger
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EDUCATION

African Americans take on more debt for grad school – but the payoff is also bigger

African Americans take on greater debt than whites to earn an advanced degree. Does the payoff make it worth it? When seeking graduate and professional degrees, African Americans take on over 50% more debt than white students. On the upside, African Americans also see a bigger payoff to earning such degrees. Whether or not that payoff is enough to make up for the additional debt burden is unclear. These are some key takeaways from a study we released in January 2020 in the journal Sociology of Education that examined graduate school debt. We are researchers who study issues of inequality and disadvantage in education. Our findings come at a time when there is an ongoing public debate about whether higher education is worth the cost. We believe these debates represent a paradox for Afric...
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What happens when community college is made free
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EDUCATION, IN OTHER NEWS

What happens when community college is made free

Free community college proposals are gaining attention. But do they work? And if so, for whom? Policymakers and presidential hopefuls are having a spirited debate over whether the U.S. should offer free community college, free public college in general or additional college subsidies directed at low-income students. In a recent paper, my coauthors Chris Avery, Jessica Howell, Matea Pender and I looked at these scenarios. We found that free community college would increase the number of people graduating with associate degrees, but it would also likely decrease the number of people completing bachelor’s degrees because students would shift away from four-year schools in favor of free tuition. Community college is already virtually free For the vast majority of low-income students, commun...
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GI Bill opened doors to college for many vets, but politicians created a separate one for Black people
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EDUCATION

GI Bill opened doors to college for many vets, but politicians created a separate one for Black people

When President Franklin Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into law on June 22, 1944, it laid the foundation for benefits that would help generations of veterans achieve social mobility. Formally known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the bill made unprecedented commitments to the nation’s veterans. For instance, it provided federal assistance to veterans in the form of housing and unemployment benefits. But of all the benefits offered through the GI Bill, funding for higher education and job training emerged as the most popular. More than 2 million veterans flocked to college campuses throughout the country. But even as former service members entered college, not all of them accessed the bill’s benefits in the same way. That’s because white southern politicians designed the distr...
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EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY

Robots in the classroom: Could robots replace tutors, teachers?

Robots have been shown to be effective at increasing cognitive and affective outcomes In “Social Robots for Education,” a study published last August in Science Robotics, the abstract conveyed: “Social robots can be used in education as tutors or peer learners. They have been shown to be effective at increasing cognitive and affective outcomes and have achieved outcomes similar to those of human tutoring on restricted tasks. This is largely because of their physical presence, which traditional learning technologies lack.” The study indicated a few reasons why educational robots are emerging as a teaching trend: ‒ Shrinking school budgets ‒ Growing numbers of students per classroom ‒ Demand for greater personal-ization of curricula for children with diverse needs Instead of just ...
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