Debt Relief Heads to Supreme Court
"The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the Biden administration’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans for eligible Americans is legal. ... Oral arguments in the case will be held in February as part of the court’s current session; meanwhile, the injunction remains in place, according to the court’s announcement Thursday." – Inside Higher Ed, 12/2/22
An American Law School, Then and Now
"50 years ago, I was a first-year student at the University of Texas School of Law. Then, it occupied about the same place in the hierarchy of American law schools that it does now: not at the very top but in the top 10 percent. Yet it is a profoundly different school today." – James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, 12/2/22
Can ‘Dirty Money’ Pollute Climate Scholarship?
"Higher education climate and sustainability initiatives have proliferated in recent years, buoyed by eager donors with deep pockets and aspirations of averting climate catastrophe. This renaissance is also reigniting a debate over the consequences of accepting funding for climate research from fossil fuel companies ... " – Inside Higher Ed, 12/2/22
Applying to College, and Trying to Appear ‘Less Asian’
"Asian Americans are a hugely diverse, complicated group, and students don’t fit into cookie-cutter stereotypes. But in the high-stakes competition for spots at elite colleges, in which so much of an applicant’s life must be boiled down to 500 or so words, many Asian American students are acutely aware of what not to be." – New York Times, 12/2/22
As enrollment falls and skepticism grows, some colleges are cutting prices
"Bright fall hues and neatly manicured lawns frame redbrick buildings and a white wooden church steeple on a peaceful New England main street with a view of the White Mountains in the distance. It’s an unlikely setting for a high-stakes gamble that could help drive dramatic change to a contentious issue: how, and how much, Americans pay to get a higher education." – Washington Post, 12/2/22
Grand Canyon U Loses Lawsuit Against Education Department
"A federal district judge in Arizona ruled Thursday that the U.S. Department of Education acted lawfully when it denied Grand Canyon University’s request to be considered a nonprofit institution under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965." – Inside Higher Ed, 12/2/22
Biden's gender transition proposal cements school-to-clinic pipeline
"In July, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a proposal for new rules under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. If passed, the rules would, among other things, ramp up the pressure on school districts to adopt policies that will facilitate students’ gender transitions, even without the knowledge or consent of their parents." – Fox News, 12/1/22
Naval Academy Withholding Diplomas from Unvaccinated Midshipmen, Lawmakers Say
"Representative Greg Steube (R., Fla.) blasted the U.S. Naval Academy on Thursday after one of his constituents claimed she has been told she needs a Covid-19 vaccine to graduate. 'Think about spending four years of your life in college and then not even being able to get a degree for the work that you’ve done,' Steube said ... " – National Review, 12/1/22
Michigan State trustee resigns over transparency, Title IX concerns
"Michigan State University trustee Pat O’Keefe resigned Wednesday, alleging a lack of transparency around the way the board and university handled personnel and Title IX cases. In his resignation letter, O’Keefe raised concerns over the university’s choice to fire Sanjay Gupta, who was dean of its business school before being ousted after allegedly failing to report a sexual misconduct incident." – Higher Ed Dive, 12/1/22
Colleges Turn to Segregation to Solve Racial Ills
"What was once discarded as an embarrassing remnant of the Jim Crow era has now become de rigueur on college campuses, returning in the form of 'affinity groups,' racially separate housing arrangements, and segregated theatrical performances." – National Review, 12/1/22
Fantastic! Love your blog.
Okay, here we go again with the all-to-common misunderstanding of textbook pricing. I agree that if you’re going to buy, the best prices are not at the campus bookstore. But please understand that it is the used book market that forces publishers to jack up their new prices and bring out frequent new editions in the first place. The publishers and authors do not make a penny from used book sales, so must make up their costs and a reasonable profit (none of us are getting rich from writing textbooks and the publishers are dying) on new sales only. Students buying new books are subsidizing their friends who buy used.
I don’t know too many people who are willing to produce quality content for free, whether we’re musical artists or textbook writers. What we need is a new business model that takes the used book market out of the loop. A one-time download, like iPod, worked in the Napster case, and it will work here as soon as students are ready for it. As an author, I’d love to see this happen.