For-Profit College Regulation Roll Back
June 16, 2017 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. The Trump administration pushes for apprenticeships over traditional higher education; DeVos rolls back Obama-era regulations on for-profit colleges; The Cooke Foundation releases a study showing that state flagship universities are becoming instruments of social stratification.
Elementary & Secondary Education
- NPR profiles an innovative approach to developing a growth-mindset in children growing up in poverty. The program uses research-based tools to give students an understanding that brains can grow, change, and heal despite the inherent stresses of poverty.
- A new report from America’s Promise Alliance shows that homelessness among public school students is on the rise. Between 2007 and 2014, homeless identified students doubled to more than 1.3 million nationwide. The report also outlines the challenges that students experiencing homelessness face including learning difficulties, emotional challenges, and an increased risk of drop-out.
- The 21st Century Community Centers program, an after-school program that serves about 1.8 million low-income students nationwide, is threatened by potential cut in federal funding. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has called the program ineffective, WFAE Charlotte reports.
Higher Education
- President Trump and advisor Ivanka Trump visit a Wisconsin Technical College to discuss the future of workforce training, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. To solidify this alternative higher education pathway, the administration is pushing for 4.5 million new apprenticeships in five years, CNBC reports. Apprenticeships combine paid on-the-job work with post-secondary classroom instruction.
- Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announces that two Obama-era regulations on for-profit colleges will be rolled back, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. The two regulations, gainful-employment and borrower-defense-to-repayment, were meant to hold career-preparation programs responsible for student outcomes and allow students to have recourse against fraudulent programs.
- A podcast from The Hechinger Report highlights the harsh reality many low-income students face when it comes to paying for college: the necessary financial aid simply isn’t there.
- The Common Application, the online college application tool used by nearly a million students every year, recently announced that their platform will be expanded to include a transfer student-specific application.
Cooke Foundation Highlights
- The Cooke Foundation has awarded $855,000 in Rural Talent Initiative grants to academic enrichment programs serving low-income rural students in elementary and secondary schools in North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Mississippi and Virginia.
- A new study from the Cooke Foundation details the identity crisis faced by public flagship universities. “State University No More” shows that state funding cuts have prompted many public flagship universities to admit growing numbers of out-of-state students so the schools can collect higher tuition. This prevents some qualified students, including those with moderate- and low-incomes, from gaining admission to the most prestigious flagships in their home states.
- Cooke Scholar Angad Singh Padda’s UC Berkeley graduation speech “to unite the world” is featured in numerous publications including Huffington Post and India Times.
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