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High School graduation rates revealed: The 5 best and 5 worst states [Freeman]

On 11/28/2012, in education reform, K-12 related, United States, by Daniel Christian

High School graduation rates revealed: The 5 best and 5 worst states — from takepart.com by Andrew Freeman
You’ll be surprised to learn how many students are not graduating in your state.

From DSC:
What does it say when the center of America’s power structures — the District of Columbia — graduated only 59 percent of their students to capture theeee worst performing part of the nation?!
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Business and Economics majors, please meet your Philosophy, Religion, Political Science majors in Room 10…and here’s what you need to discuss.

On 11/13/2012, in business, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, economics, hearts -- matters of the heart, ideas, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, political science, real-world assignments, relationships, religion, society, student-related, United States, by Daniel Christian

To students studying Business, Economics, Religion, Political Science, and Philosophy:

 

Please consider — and research/define where necessary — the following items occurring in the United States today. 

The fiscal cliff.
The U.S. debt limit.
Federal spending vs. revenue.
Printing money and it’s potential impact on inflation.
Recent election results.
A global economy; global competition.
The place/role of money.
Race against the machine; also see this posting.
Matthew 6:19-34.

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Then, please discuss/answer the following questions:

  1. What makes our debt risky? On a national level? On the money and banking level? On a personal level?
  2. What are your thoughts about the following items:
  3. What implications do you see in these items? Will they be impacting you and/or your future?
    • Are there political ramifications for this?
    • Are there spiritual ramifications for this?
  4. Could the U.S. be heading for trouble? If you say yes, what support do you have for this assertion? If you say no, what do you support your argument with?
  5. Do you think we are a divided nation? What support do you have for this perspective?
  6. What characteristics of leadership would you most like to see at this point in time?
  7. After reading Matthew 6:19-34:
    • If you, personally, lost everything you had, what would that do to you emotionally? Physically? Spiritually? That is, if our savings completely dried up, what would life be like for us as a society? What would that do to our hearts?  To our perspectives/worldviews/priorities? How we choose to spend our time? What would it do to our view of God?  To our view of ourselves?

 

Some other resources to consider:

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fiscal cliff

 

 

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Average student debt climbs to $26,600 for Class of 2011 [TICAS]

On 11/08/2012, in cost of getting a degree, experimentation, new business models, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, United States, by Daniel Christian

Average student debt climbs to $26,600 for Class of 2011 — from The Institute for College Access & Success
Report, website include state-by-state and campus-by-campus debt levels for 2011 graduates

 

Average student debt now up to 26K+ for Class of 2011

 

Excerpt:

TICAS recently released Student Debt and the Class of 2011, our seventh annual report on the debt carried by new college graduates. Hundreds of news outlets around the country have already run stories featuring our findings, including The New York Times, USA Today, and PBS NewsHour.

We found that two-thirds of college seniors who graduated from public and private nonprofit four-year schools in 2011 carried an average of $26,600 in student loan debt, up 5% from the previous year. Private student loans comprised about one-fifth of the Class of 2011’s debt. Meanwhile, unemployment for recent graduates dipped from last year’s peak of 9.1% but remained high at 8.8% (still less than half the unemployment rate for young adults with only a high school diploma).

The report also shows that average student debt levels vary widely by state as well as by college. To view debt levels for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and more than 1,000 individual U.S. colleges and universities, visit our companion interactive map.

Read the press release
Read the report
Use the interactive map

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From DSC:
The above items support the need for greater experimentation within higher ed.

Also see:

 

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How will the debt limit and the fiscal cliff affect higher education in the near term? In the longer term? [Christian]

On 11/06/2012, in business side of he, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, legislatures / government / legal, by Daniel Christian

Treasury: Debt limit is looming — from wallstcheatsheet.com by Aabha Rathee

Excerpt:

The U.S. Treasury warned that it was still on schedule to reach its debt limit close to the end of the year, even though it was taking measures that would allow it to continue borrowing funds through early 2013. It also plans to sell $72 billion in notes and bonds in next week’s refunding exercise.

The Treasury was $235 billion below the $16.4 trillion debt limit as of Monday. While the department did not say when its emergency borrowing tools are likely to run out as well, economic experts have earlier forecast the latter half of February as the deadline. Raising the debt ceiling will be a big challenge for the Congress once the presidential election, set for November 6, is over. Doing so will also likely have an effect on the fiscal cliff, the more than $600 billion in federal spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect at the start of next year.

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The Fiscal Cliff Explained  — from about.com

Excerpt:

“Fiscal cliff” is the popular shorthand term used to describe the conundrum that the U.S. government will face at the end of 2012, when the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 are scheduled to go into effect.

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Fiscal cliff ahead: What it may mean — from fidelity.com
Risks to the economy and stocks are high if all tax hikes and spending cuts take effect.

Excerpt:

Without congressional action, up to $600 billion of expiring tax cuts, new taxes, and automatic spending cuts are set to take effect at the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. If they hit all at once, the impact could amount to as much as 4%-5% of GDP, according to our research, the equivalent of falling off a “fiscal cliff.” Some experts anticipate the economy would experience a significant slowdown and there would be major consequences for financial markets.

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Addendums on 11/8/12:

 

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Harrison College lowering tuition — an excellent example/direction if we want to stay relevant

On 11/06/2012, in budgets, business, colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, economics, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, leadership, reinvent, society, staying relevant, strategy, United States, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Harrison College lowering tuition -- an excellent example/direction if we want to stay relevant

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Smart move MN

On 11/03/2012, in K-12 related, online learning, United States, by Daniel Christian

Online school iQ Academy Minnesota expands to include grades K-5, begins accepting student applications — from sacbee.com by iQ Academy Minnesota

Excerpt:

FERGUS FALLS, Minn., Nov. 2, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — iQ Academy Minnesota, an online public school program, is adding grades K-5 to its offerings and is accepting applications for new students for a second semester start.

The expansion means the innovative learning experience that iQ Academy Minnesota provides is now open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

From DSC:
MN seems to be making some smarter moves for its viability and future — for both corporations settling there and for students moving there (or from there); glad to see they backed off the Coursera situation.

 

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Why is American Higher Education so averse to change? [Selingo]

On 11/01/2012, in 21st century, career development, change, dangers of the status quo, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, leadership, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, United States, by Daniel Christian

Why is American Higher Education so averse to change? — from Jeff Selingo

Excerpt:

In my 15 years of reporting on higher education—and especially in the last year as I have reported for my forthcoming book on the future of higher education—colleges and universities have come to remind me of other American content industries that have been disrupted in the last decade: newspapers and magazines, music, and book publishing. In many ways, colleges and universities are following the same playbook:

 

From DSC:
I hope that higher education learns from what the Internet did to other industries.  I hope we can reinvent ourselves, stay relevant, and ride the wave to create WIN-WIN situations…and not get crushed by it.

 

 

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Does the U.S. accreditation system discriminate against online learning? [Bates]

On 11/01/2012, in accreditation, Canada, dangers of the status quo, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant, United States, by Daniel Christian

Does the U.S. accreditation system discriminate against online learning? — from Tony Bates

Excerpt:

Furthermore, problems remain in both Canada and the USA if students want to start taking online courses from an institution out of state or province then use that for advancement by transferring to a local university. The answer of course is more flexible credit transfer arrangements, more flexible prior learning assessment, and challenge exams, where students can demonstrate their learning without having to work through courses they have already taken elsewhere. Even some of the more prestigious research universities in Canada are realising that they need to be more flexible if they are to attract lifelong learners, for instance. Thus it’s as much up to the institutions as the regulators to ensure there is some flexibility in the system for students taking out of state or out of province online courses.

Yes, there needs to be sensible protections against fraud and fly-by-night online operators, but too often the restrictions, regulations and barriers are steeped in practices that no longer apply in an open, knowledge-based society. Every institution should be examining the structure of its courses, its admission requirements, its arrangements for credit transfer and prior learning assessment, and its strategy for lifelong learning, if it is to be fit for purpose in the 21st century. It is not an issue just of online learning.

From DSC:
Questions I often ponder re: accreditation:

  • Who sits on accrediting boards these days? Is it not people inside the current system?
  • What responsibilities do accreditation bodies have on them to enable/support change (where appropriate)?
  • Are such accreditation bodies feeling the pressure to help colleges and universities reinvent themselves in order to stay relevant? Or are they maintaining the status quo by all means possible?
  • Whose interests are ultimately being served by the current methods of accreditation? (I hope it’s the students!)

 

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Rethink college: 3 takeaways from the TIME Summit on Higher Education [Webley]

On 10/25/2012, in 21st century, business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Rethink college: 3 takeaways from the TIME Summit on Higher Education — from nation.time.com by Kayla Webley

Excerpt:

For a room full of academics talking about the future of higher education, the conversation was surprisingly blunt.  Yesterday TIME gathered more than 100 college presidents and other experts from across the U.S. to talk about the biggest problems facing higher education, which U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan summed up for the room as “high prices, low completion rates, and too little accountability.”

 

 

Also see:

  • Higher-Education Poll –– from nation.time.com by Josh Sanburn
    Excerpt:
    The American public and senior administrators at U.S. colleges and universities overwhelmingly agree that higher education is in crisis, according to a new poll, but they fundamentally disagree over how to fix it and even what the main purpose of higher education is. According to a survey sponsored by TIME and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, 89% of U.S. adults and 96% of senior administrators at colleges and universities said higher education is in crisis, and nearly 4 in 10 in both groups considered the crisis to be “severe.”
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Closing the Internet Divide [Lo]

On 10/18/2012, in global / globalization, internet, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, society, United States, by Daniel Christian

Closing the Internet Divide — from allthingsd.com by Patrick Lo

Excerpt:

The closure of the divide will suddenly grant everyone an equal chance to succeed. But the onus is on both the public and private sectors to keep innovating to deliver the low-cost services, connectivity and devices to help close this gap as quickly as possible.

In the United States, the divide is slowly but surely being eradicated. Broadband penetration currently stands around the 70 percent mark with more than 85 million homes having fixed broadband subscriptions. The FCC National Broadband Plan will further extend the connected experience with the goal of taking Internet access to every American by 2020. The implications are huge. Connecting the masses, both domestically and internationally, to the Internet is set to fundamentally improve the quality of people’s lives and close the Internet Divide.

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Dropout nation [PBS]

On 09/26/2012, in economics, education reform, K-12 related, society, United States, by Daniel Christian

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dropout-nation/

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Why reading by third grade is critical, and what can be done to help children meet that deadline [Baker]

On 09/22/2012, in K-12 related, reading, society, United States, by Daniel Christian

Why reading by third grade is critical, and what can be done to help children meet that deadline — from Deseret News by Celia Baker

Excerpt:

Nationally, 85 percent of children from low-income families failed to reach proficiency levels by fourth grade on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Improving reading proficiency is seen as imperative to keeping the U.S. competitive in the global marketplace, and third grade is where the battle is being fought hardest.

 

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U.S. News Releases 2013 Best Colleges

On 09/19/2012, in colleges, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

 

National University Rankings

Liberal Arts College Rankings

Regional Colleges
These schools focus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines.

Regional Universities
Regional Universities offer a full range of undergrad programs and some master’s programs but few doctoral programs.

Best Value Schools
The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.

A+ Schools for B Students
These schools consider good students with less than stellar test scores or so-so grade point averages.

Up-and-Coming Schools
See which schools are making strides that earned them the most votes from other college administrators.

Best Undergraduate Business Programs
These colleges are the highest ranked by business school deans and faculty.

Top Public Schools
See which state schools across the country rank the highest.

Most International Students
The student body at these colleges and universities includes many students from abroad.

More rankings and lists

A-to-Z list of all colleges

 

Also see:

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The dropout crisis can be likened to the oil spill of 2010, but this time, what’s being lost is far more valuable.

On 09/14/2012, in business, career development, corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, economics, education reform, future, hearts -- matters of the heart, K-12 related, student-related, surviving, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The dropout crisis can be likened to the oil spill of 2010, but this time, what's being lost is far more valuable.

Graphics combined from:

 

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Purdue University: Digital badges show students’ skills along with degree

On 09/13/2012, in higher education, innovation, real-world assignments, United States, by Daniel Christian

Purdue's Digital Badges - 9-11-12

 

 

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