college – Page 3

What college students need to know about liability waivers for COVID-19

2Sep

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, IN OTHER NEWS

What college students need to know about liability waivers for COVID-19

As college and university campuses across the United States reopen, administrators are faced with the task of protecting students while also protecting the interests of the institutions they lead. This includes reducing the risk of lawsuits. Some institutions have resorted to forcing students to sign liability waivers. What purpose do these serve and is this the best course of action? As a professor who researches higher education law, here are my answers to four questions related to these waivers. 1. Do liability waivers protect universities from lawsuits? Generally, no. A liability waiver is generally viewed in court as an assumption of risk on the part of the person who signs it. So in this case it would be the student. This means that the person acknowledges there are some naturally oc...

John Lewis traded the typical college experience for activism, arrests and jail cells

24Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

John Lewis traded the typical college experience for activism, arrests and jail cells

As an 18-year-old student attending a training session for activists at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, John Lewis stuttered and struggled to read. A visiting professor mocked his stammered speech and “poor reading skills” and dismissed Lewis’ potential as a “suitable leader” for the burgeoning movement. Famed activist and organizer Septima Clark rose to his defense and her support of Lewis paid off. The unassuming teenager from the backwoods of Troy, Alabama, became a giant of the Black freedom struggle and, ultimately, would go on to serve more than three decades in Congress. He died on July 17. Enthralled by ‘Social Gospel’ Lewis enrolled in American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, mainly because it charged no tuition, but also due to the prof...

Ethical challenges loom over decisions to resume in-person college classes

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, EDUCATION, VIDEO REELS

Ethical challenges loom over decisions to resume in-person college classes

By early July, about 80% of U.S. campuses were planning to resume at least some in-person instruction, even as a growing numbers of faculty are voicing concerns about safety. As Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, argues, “Because we do not yet have the ability to bring students and staff back to campus while keeping them safe and healthy, we simply cannot return to business as usual.” Sorrell says that bringing students back in this context “constitutes an abdication of our moral responsibility as leaders.” But this isn’t just about the responsibilities of individual campuses and university leaders to do what’s right. As a scholar of ethics, I believe it is unwise and unethical for government to leave schools largely on their own to navigate in deciding whether and how to ...

5 ways parents can support their college-age children who’ve been forced to return home due to COVID-19

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, EDUCATION

5 ways parents can support their college-age children who’ve been forced to return home due to COVID-19

With many college students forced to return home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tensions and arguments are bound to flare up. Here, Matthew Mayhew, an education researcher who co-authored a book about the college experience and its effect on students, offers five things parents and families of the many college students who are now learning from home should consider. 1. Empathize Whatever feelings of grief and fear are affecting you are also affecting your college students. Put yourself in their shoes – they are probably under just as much stress, if not more, as they try to complete the semester in unexpected ways. Also, many students might be questioning their decisions to go to college in the first place. Or what school will be like when they return. Can they still choose their roommates...

5 ways that the coronavirus will change college admissions this fall

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, EDUCATION

5 ways that the coronavirus will change college admissions this fall

The new coronavirus is spreading across the United States just as many high school seniors were applying to colleges or awaiting acceptance letters. Here, Robert Massa, who teaches about higher education at the University of Southern California and is a former admissions dean from Johns Hopkins University and Dickinson College, offers insights into five ways the COVID-19 pandemic could affect a student’s quest to attend the school of their choice. 1. More time Due to the uncertainties surrounding the health and financial implications of the pandemic, many colleges will not have filled their classes by the traditional May 1 deadline. Colleges that are concerned about not meeting their numerical enrollment goals will likely be flexible in allowing students to apply, even at this late date. ...

What Americans think about who deserves tuition-free college

25Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

What Americans think about who deserves tuition-free college

Tuition-free college has gotten a lot of momentum of late. Front-runners in the Democratic presidential field – including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden – have all come out in support of federally funded tuition-free college. And it isn’t just Democrats. Nineteen states have passed tuition-free college policies, including Republican strongholds Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky. So have nearly 300 cities or counties. But there is still debate about who should be eligible. Should there be an income cap, for instance, so that only poor or middle-income families are eligible? Should there be a minimum high school GPA requirement? In my recently published survey, I found that Americans view tuition-free college more positively when it’s open to everyone – compared to when ...

Federal Pell Grants help pay for college – but are they enough to help students finish?

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Federal Pell Grants help pay for college – but are they enough to help students finish?

Pell Grants are one way the federal government helps people pay for college. During the 2020 to 2021 school year, eligible students can receive up to US$6,345 through the program, depending on where they go to school, how many classes they take and how much money their family makes. Despite this assistance, students who receive Pell Grants are less likely than other students to graduate from a four-year institution within six years: 51% versus 59% for students who first enrolled in 2010. Six years is the timespan the federal government uses to measure graduation rates. One reason for this disparity is that Pell Grant recipients tend to go to less selective colleges and universities. Graduation rates are lower for these institutions than for more selective institutions. For instance, at...

What happens when community college is made free

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

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...

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

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

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...

So This Is How White Privilege Goes to College

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

So This Is How White Privilege Goes to College

The recent college cheating scandal surprises no one. The super rich have long relied on “legacy admissions” to get them into their elite college of choice. There are those who like to think the United States is a meritocracy, a place where all you need to do to get ahead is to be able and to work hard. Talent plus effort equals success. It’s bunk, of course, as anyone who grows up and looks around would tell you. Wealth and White privilege play an outsize role in determining who comes out on top. And if “on top” means more money, more opportunity, and more power, that trend has only become more pronounced in recent years. The rich continue to grow richer at the expense of everyone else. Which brings us to the unsurprising college admissions scandal this week, in whi...